Discipline
Administration and Identity
A modern life leaves a long administrative trail: accounts, subscriptions, passwords, and an identity that must be protected even after death. This discipline is the paperwork taught as a system, so that closing a life down is orderly rather than endless, and so that a person cannot be defrauded once they are gone.
You will be able to close accounts in the right order, notify every institution that needs to know, and protect your person from fraud after they are gone.
The topics
Instruments
Objects you carry to a bank, a court, or a phone call.
Primary sources
Every statute, form, and agency cited here. When in doubt, trust these over anyone, including us.
Government
- USAGov: Agencies to notify when someone diesThe federal index of which agencies must be told and what each requires, which is the closest thing to a master notification list.opens in a new tab
- USAGov: Dealing with the death of a loved oneThe wider federal hub, covering benefits, records and reporting in one place.opens in a new tab
- Social Security Administration: What to do when someone diesConfirms that funeral homes generally report the death and gives the number to call if you need to report it yourself.opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission: IdentityTheft.govThe federal reporting site, which generates a recovery plan and the identity theft report that creditors and credit bureaus accept.opens in a new tab
- Michigan Department of Attorney General: Identity theft, deceased victimsA state consumer protection office's specific checklist, including what to leave out of an obituary and how to cancel a driver license.opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission: Identity theft consumer adviceThe general federal guidance on recognizing, reporting and recovering from identity theft.opens in a new tab
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Does a person's debt go away when they dieUseful when a cancelled subscription becomes a disputed balance, because it sets out who is and is not responsible.opens in a new tab
Official
- Equifax: Contacting credit bureaus after a relative's deathWhat documents a credit bureau requires, and the statement that notifying one bureau notifies the other two.opens in a new tab
- United States Postal Service: How to stop or forward mail for the deceasedWhat the Postal Service requires before it will redirect or stop mail, which is more than a death certificate.opens in a new tab
- Google: Submit a request regarding a deceased user's accountWhat Google will and will not do, including its refusal to provide passwords and its warning that closing an account is irreversible.opens in a new tab
- Google: About Inactive Account ManagerThe tool a person can set while alive to decide who receives their data, which takes priority over other instructions in most states.opens in a new tab
- Apple: Request access to a deceased family member's Apple AccountHow a Legacy Contact requests access, and what Apple requires in the United States when no Legacy Contact was named.opens in a new tab
- Apple: How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple AccountThe ten minute task that removes this entire problem for the next family, worth doing for yourself while reading this.opens in a new tab
Guides on this shelf
The one list 101
This guide is being written with care.
Closing accounts 101
This guide is being written with care.
Guarding against fraud 101
This guide is being written with care.
Guides on this subject
The notifications no one warns you about after a loss
Most families are stunned by how many organizations need to be contacted after a loss. This guide gathers every notification into clear categories, so nothing falls through the cracks.
When the loss is not recent, and the paperwork left months or years later
Not everyone is ready to face the logistics right away. If months or years have passed and tasks remain unfinished, this is what you can still do, and what may have changed.
Digital estate planning, and what becomes of online accounts after a loss
Our digital lives are vast: email, social media, cloud storage, crypto wallets, subscriptions. After a loss, reaching or closing these accounts is a modern challenge with few clear rules.
How to order a death certificate in California, and how many copies you will need
In California, almost every task that follows a loss asks for a certified copy of the death certificate. This guide explains who can order one, where to order it, and why most families need more copies than they expect.