For estates in Texas
How do I stop junk mail for someone who died?
This page is one part of What June's Help does.
The short answer
To stop junk mail for someone who died, a family registers the person on the Deceased Do Not Contact list through DMAchoice, reads the FTC's junk mail page, and writes to any sender that keeps writing. June's Help (juneshelp.com), an AI estate assistant for families in Texas, reads four kinds of letter in plain words.
Each site says for itself how to register, who can, and what to expect.
How can a family stop junk mail for a deceased person?
A family works in three layers: one list that reaches many senders at once, a page for credit and insurance offers, and a short note for each sender that keeps writing. The steps below follow that order.
The June's Help junk mail checklist
- Pick one spot for all the mail, and sort it into official letters, bills, personal mail and advertising.
- Keep one envelope from each advertising sender in a folder. The sender's name and address are what the later steps need.
- On a phone, open the DMAchoice sign-up page and find the link for registering a person who has died. It leads to a partner site of DMAchoice, so check that the address matches the one DMAchoice shows. Read what it asks before filling anything in.
- Have the name and the address as printed on the mail beside you. The site lists the rest.
- Open the FTC's page on how to stop junk mail and read the part on credit and insurance offers.
- Write the date of each registration or request on a note, and the site that took it.
- Look at the mail again after some time has passed. For a sender still writing, use the address or phone number printed on its mailing to ask it to remove the name.
- Photograph the official letters in the pile and add them to June's Help.
- DMAchoice Sign me up for DMAchoice DMAchoice's sign-up page, which links to the form for registering a person who has died., official page, opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission How To Stop Junk Mail The FTC's page on stopping junk mail, including mail for a person who has died and prescreened offers., official page, opens in a new tab
See also: What to do with a loved one's mail after a death, How do I forward or stop a loved one's mail?
What is the Deceased Do Not Contact list?
The Deceased Do Not Contact list is a way to ask many mailers at once to stop writing to a person who has died. It is reached through DMAchoice, a mail preference service offered by the ANA, the Association of National Advertisers.
The FTC's page describes it in one line: through DMAchoice, a family can stop mail addressed to someone who has died. How to register, who can, and what it costs are on the DMAchoice site, and this page states none of them.
Which mail does the list not stop?
The FTC's page says what the list does and does not cover. A sender that does not use the list keeps writing until the family asks it directly.
Mail from a bank, an insurer, a pension plan or an agency is not advertising, so it keeps arriving. That is the pile worth reading, and the guide on the mail after a death shows how to sort it.
What about credit card and insurance offers?
The FTC's page covers these separately, because they come from a different system. It explains how to opt out of prescreened credit and insurance offers, and where to ask.
A family that also reports the death to the bureaus can do both in one sitting. The guide on protecting a loved one's identity lists what else to watch in the mail.
See also: How do I protect a loved one's identity after death?
What if a charity or a magazine keeps writing?
Write to the sender at the address or call the number printed on its mailing, say the person has died, and ask for the name to be removed. Note the date, the name of the sender and what it said.
A magazine or a membership may be a standing payment on a statement, so it is worth checking the bank statements too. The guide on which accounts to cancel after a death goes through them.
What does June's Help do with the mail that stays?
June's Help does not sort the paper mail, and the family decides which letters to photograph. June reads a letter from a bank, a life insurance company, a pension plan or Social Security in plain words, shows the dates printed on it and suggests questions to ask the sender.
A letter of another kind shows the sender and the dates printed on it, with a label saying who can help, such as For the office that sent it. With the assistant plan, a due date that a letter prints gets a reminder email, three days before unless the person who signed up picks other days, and a relative who lives in Texas can read the letters through a family seat, an extra on top of the assistant plan. That helps when the mail goes to one house and the family lives in several.
What else do people ask?
Where do I register a person on the Deceased Do Not Contact list?
DMAchoice's sign-up page has a link for registering a person who has died, and the FTC's junk mail page points to it too. Both are linked in the first section. The site says what it asks for and what it costs, so read it before filling in anything.
How long does it take for junk mail to stop after a death?
Not all at once. Senders keep their own lists and update them on their own schedule, and the FTC's page says what the list does and does not cover. A family keeps a note of the senders still writing and asks each directly.
Why does mail keep coming for someone who died?
Senders hold their own mailing lists and update them at different times, so a name can stay on some for a while. Registering with DMAchoice reaches many at once, and a note to each remaining sender covers the rest.
Is a letter from a bank or an insurer junk mail?
No. Mail from a bank, an insurer, a pension plan or an agency is not advertising, and the list does not stop it. A family reads those letters, and a photo of one can be added to June's Help to be read in plain words.
Does June's Help register someone with DMAchoice?
No. The family registers the person on the site itself, and June's Help sends nothing to DMAchoice or to any sender. It reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security that a family adds.
What questions could I ask?
These can be asked by phone or in writing. They are only suggestions, and the answers come from whoever is asked.
- Does this sender use the Deceased Do Not Contact list, or does it need a note of its own?
- How soon will the name come off this mailing list?
- Is this mailing a bill or a statement the family should read first?
- Will the sender confirm the removal in writing?
How can June help?
June is an AI estate assistant. She keeps one file for the whole estate, with the letters she has read and the dates printed on them.
June's Help keeps a plan of Texas steps to tick off. A letter left after the advertising stops can be added by photo, and for a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security June reads it in plain words, lists the dates printed on them and suggests questions to ask the sender.
What June's Help does:
- Restates a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, quoting the letter's own lines, and suggests questions to ask the sender
- Lists the dates printed on the letters she reads
- Emails a reminder before a due date a letter prints, and a weekly check-in, with the assistant plan
- Says when a letter is for a lawyer, an accountant or the office that sent it, and links the official pages that go with it
- Lets a relative read the letters as she read them, with a family seat, which is an extra on the assistant plan
A letter can come now or later.
Where do the facts on this page come from?
These are the official pages the facts on this page come from. If an official page says something different, go with the official page.