Which accounts do I cancel after a death?

How does a family find and cancel the accounts?

Most families work from the paper and the inbox first, and the calls come after. The steps below are one order to work in.

The June's Help account cancellation checklist

1. Put the last few months of mail, bank statements and card statements in one box or one folder.
2. Open the email inbox and the phone, and write down the names of the companies that send bills, receipts or renewal notices.
3. Make one line for each company: its name, the kind of account and where it turned up.
4. Sort the lines into six groups: cards, phone, utilities, streaming, memberships and everything else.
5. For each company, find its own page about the account of a person who has died, or the phone number on the statement or the back of the card.
6. Ask what the company needs, and whether it takes a photocopy or a certified copy of the death certificate.
7. Before a phone line or a subscription is closed, ask what happens to any balance, to automatic payments and to a number or an email address. Before a utility or an insurance policy is closed, ask the lawyer or the person settling the estate whether the house or the car still needs it.
8. Write down the date, the name of the person who helped and any reference number.
9. If the company is of a kind on the list of who to tell in June's Help, mark its notice as sent there once the letter has gone.
10. Check the next statement to see that the charge has stopped, and keep a note of it.

See also: How to tell banks, utilities and companies about a death, How do I keep a call log for an estate?

Which kinds of accounts are on the list?

Six groups cover most of what a person leaves behind, and a family can add its own. Each company's page decides how an account is closed or changed, so the list only says what to look for:

• Cards: credit cards, store cards and gas cards. Look for statements and the number on the back of the card.
• Phone and internet: a mobile line, a home line or a cable bill. Look for a monthly bill, and ask about a shared family plan.
• Utilities: electricity, gas, water and trash. Look for the bills and the name of the account holder. Before one is closed, ask the lawyer or the person settling the estate whether the house still needs it.
• Streaming and apps: video, music, news and cloud storage. Look for small repeating charges and renewal emails.
• Memberships: a gym, a club, a library, an airline or a store program. Look for dues on a statement or a card in a wallet.
• Everything else: insurance, magazines, charities with a monthly gift, and anything else that sends a bill. Ask the lawyer or the person settling the estate before home or car insurance is closed.

See also: How do I tell the credit bureaus someone died?

How can a family cancel credit cards after a death?

To cancel credit cards after a death, a family calls the card company on the number printed on the back of the card or on a statement, and asks what it needs. Each card company has its own steps, and the company's page or the person who answers says what they are.

USAGov publishes a list of who to report a death to, which is linked on this page. Keep the account number and a photo of the death certificate on the phone, where only the family can open them, so a call does not stop to look for them.

• USAGov Agencies to notify when someone dies USAGov's list of the agencies and businesses to report a death to., official page, opens in a new tab

See also: How do I tell the credit bureaus someone died?, How to tell banks, utilities and companies about a death

How can accounts be found in statements and mail?

Charges that repeat show an account, so a family reads each statement for the same name each month or each year. Small amounts are easy to skip, and they are often a subscription.

The mail shows others: a bill, a renewal notice, a card that arrives with a new number. The email inbox shows the senders, and the phone's list of apps shows the services the person used. A relative who cannot be in the house can read the senders by video while someone else holds each envelope up to the camera.

How can the phone and subscriptions be cancelled?

To cancel phone and subscriptions, a family asks each company what it needs, and each company's page decides how. A phone line may be on a plan shared with others, so ask what changes for the people who stay on it.

Ask also what happens to the number, the email address and the photos kept with the company before a line or a subscription is closed. Streaming and membership accounts often have their own page for the account of a person who has died. If there is none, the number on the statement is the way in.

What does June's Help do with the list of accounts?

In "tell everyone", a company that is a bank, a credit card company, a utility, or a phone, internet or cable provider can be added to the list in June's Help, and the family marks its notice as sent once the letter has gone. Streaming, memberships and other accounts have no kind on that list. June's Help sends no letter to a company and makes no calls.

A company's reply that arrives as a letter can be photographed and added. June reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, and lists the dates printed on it, and with the assistant plan a reminder email comes before a due date that a letter prints. Bills that are still open, and what has been spent, go on the bills and spending list: the family adds them, says who paid, marks one paid, and sees the totals.

See also: How do I track estate bills and expenses?