How to Prevent Identity Theft & Close a Deceased Person’s Accounts

In the middle of grief, paperwork is the last thing anyone wants to think about. But there is a quiet danger in waiting: A deceased person’s identity is a wide-open target. Criminals comb obituaries and public records for names, birth dates, and other details, then use them to open credit cards, file fake tax returns, and claim benefits. The crime is grim enough to have its own name: “ghosting.” Because no one is watching the accounts, the fraud can run for months before anyone notices, and it often spills over onto surviving spouses and children. Closing a loved one’s accounts quickly and correctly is not mere administrative housekeeping; it is one last act of care, and it slams the door on identity thieves.

This guide walks through who to notify and in what order, how to flag the credit file, what to do about online accounts and the final tax return, and what to watch for in the months after, with a free worksheet and checklist to keep it all straight during a hard time.

Why This Matters: The Risk of “Ghosting”

Deceased identity theft is more common than most families expect. Fraudsters know that the recently deceased make ideal victims: Their personal information is often published openly, and their accounts go unmonitored. Using a name, Social Security number, and date of birth, a thief can open new credit, redirect benefits, or file a fraudulent tax refund in the deceased’s name, sometimes within days of the death.

The damage does not stay with the deceased, either. It can entangle the estate, delay its settlement, and bleed into the credit of a surviving spouse who shared accounts. The good news: A handful of prompt notifications shuts down the vast majority of these attempts. Speed is your best defense, and none of the steps below require a lawyer.

First Steps: Get Organized

Before you start calling, gather what every institution will ask for:

• Certified death certificates: order several. You will mail copies to many agencies and companies, and most require a certified copy from the vital records office, not a photocopy. Ordering 10 or more up front saves weeks of back-and-forth.
• Proof of your authority. Many institutions will only deal with the court-appointed executor, who holds letters testamentary (the court document proving you can act for the estate), or a similarly authorized person. If there is a will, the executor named in it applies to the probate court for this authority; our last will and testament guide explains the executor’s role. For small estates, many states let heirs use a simpler small estate affidavit instead of full probate.
• A list of the deceased’s accounts: Banks, cards, loans, insurance, subscriptions, benefits, and online accounts. The downloadable worksheet above is built for exactly this.

Limit the obituary. A loving tribute does not need the full date of birth, mother’s maiden name, or home address; those are exactly the details thieves harvest. Keep it warm but sparing on identifying data.

Who to Notify (and the Order)

Work top-down; the first two notifications stop most fraud:

1. Social Security Administration (SSA). The funeral home usually reports the death (they will ask you for the Social Security number), but confirm it happened. If not, call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213; the agency takes death reports by phone or in person, not online. The SSA flags the record, stops benefits, and its death record flows to other agencies, including Medicare.
2. The credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). This is the critical anti-fraud step; the next section covers exactly how.
3. Banks, credit unions, and credit-card issuers. Close or transition accounts; cancel cards.
4. The IRS and your state tax agency. A final return is usually required, and filing it promptly helps block refund fraud (details below).
5. Insurers, pensions, and benefit providers.
6. The DMV, to cancel the driver’s license so it cannot be used as ID.
7. Other agencies and businesses: Medicaid, the VA if applicable, and any memberships or subscriptions.

Flag the Credit File with the Bureaus

This step single-handedly blocks most new-credit fraud. A deceased alert on the credit file tells any lender who pulls the report that the applicant cannot be applying, so the application stops.

Here is a detail that saves work: Experian states that once you notify one credit bureau of a loved one’s death, it notifies the other two. The bureaus also receive death records from the Social Security Administration over time. In practice, careful executors still confirm rather than assume: Send your request to one bureau (or all three, if you want certainty), then check the deceased’s credit report a few weeks later to verify the alert is in place at each bureau.

Only a spouse or a legally authorized person, such as the executor, can make the request. Include a certified copy of the death certificate (never the original), the deceased’s identifying information, your own name and ID, and proof of your authority.

Two follow-ups worth doing. First, request a copy of the credit report itself: It confirms the flag took, and it surfaces any accounts you did not know existed, legitimate or fraudulent. Second, per Experian you can also request a credit freeze on the deceased’s file, which blocks anyone from viewing the report at all; the bureaus eventually remove a deceased person’s credit file entirely, years after the death is reported.

Closing Accounts, Step by Step

1. Bank and credit-union accounts. Contact each institution with the death certificate and your authority documents. Joint accounts usually pass to the co-owner, and accounts with a payable-on-death beneficiary (a person the account holder named to receive the money directly) go to that person; solo accounts with no beneficiary become part of the estate.
2. Credit cards. Cancel them, and never keep using a deceased person’s card. Even charging funeral flowers to it is fraud; the card agreement died with the cardholder.
3. Loans and mortgages. Notify lenders; the estate, a co-borrower, or the heir who takes the property handles the balance.
4. Subscriptions and memberships. Cancel recurring charges, from streaming to gym to software. The bank statement is the fastest way to find them all.
5. Utilities and insurance. Transfer or close as needed, and ask insurers about any death benefits owed to the estate or beneficiaries.
6. Email and online accounts. These are a common fraud entry point and get their own section below.

Settling these correctly usually means proving you have authority to act for the estate, which is where the executor documents come in.

Digital Accounts: Memorialize or Close

An abandoned email inbox or social profile is a burglary kit: Password resets, account statements, and personal details all flow through it. Every major platform has an official process for a death, so you never need the deceased’s password.

• Facebook will either memorialize the profile (it stays up with “Remembering” before the name, as a place for tributes) or delete it. Anyone can request memorialization with proof of death such as an obituary or death certificate; see Facebook’s Help Center page on deceased users’ accounts. If the person named a legacy contact in their settings, that contact manages the memorialized profile.
• Google handles requests about a deceased user’s account (closure, and in limited cases data access) through its account support process, and honors any plan the person set up in advance with Inactive Account Manager.
• Apple can delete a deceased person’s Apple Account and remove the activation lock from devices with a death certificate; if the person named a Legacy Contact, that contact can access the account with their access key.
• Email accounts deserve special care. Before closing one, consider monitoring it briefly (through the provider’s lawful process) or watching the postal mail instead, so you catch statements from accounts you have not found yet.

If the person left a written plan for their digital accounts, work from it. If you are doing your own planning, our digital asset estate plan template covers logins, crypto, and legacy contacts so your family never has to guess.

The Final Tax Return (and Refund Fraud)

A person’s tax obligations do not end at death: A final income tax return is generally due for the year of death, on the normal filing deadline the following spring. It reports income up to the date of death. A surviving spouse can usually still file jointly for that year, and on a paper return you write “deceased,” the person’s name, and the date of death across the top.

Filing has an anti-fraud side effect: A fraudulent refund claim in the deceased’s name is classic ghosting, and the real return, filed early, gets there first. If a refund is due to the estate or family, the person claiming it may need IRS Form 1310; a surviving spouse filing jointly or a court-appointed representative generally does not. The IRS keeps a plain-English hub for all of it on its deceased person page, including its own tips for preventing identity theft of the deceased. Estates large enough to owe estate tax or needing an estate income tax return are a job for a professional.

Watch for Fraud, Even After You Have Notified

Notifications reduce the risk but do not eliminate it overnight, so keep watch for several months:

• Unexpected mail: New cards, statements, or bills in the deceased’s name signal someone is opening accounts.
• A rejected tax return: If the IRS says a return was already filed for the deceased, that is refund fraud; report it through the IRS and IdentityTheft.gov.
• Calls from collectors about debts that do not exist.
• Activity on the deceased’s credit report after you flagged it.
• Your own credit: Survivors who shared accounts or information should monitor their files too.

Three low-effort shields: Shred the deceased’s sensitive mail rather than tossing it; register the name on the Deceased Do Not Contact list (a free registry that tells marketers to stop mailing, which thins out the offers a thief could intercept); and consider an identity-monitoring service that watches the credit file and the dark web and alerts you the moment a name or Social Security number is misused.

A Simple Timeline

There is no statutory deadline for most of this, but a steady rhythm keeps it manageable and closes the fraud window fast:

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Waiting too long. Every week of delay is an opening for fraud.
• Only ordering one death certificate. You will need many certified copies.
• Assuming the credit bureaus were notified automatically. The alert is designed to spread from one bureau to the others, but confirm it took effect on all three reports instead of assuming.
• Over-sharing in the obituary. Skip the full birth date and other identifiers.
• Using the deceased’s cards. That is fraud, even for “final” expenses.
• Forgetting online accounts. Email and social profiles are prime fraud entry points; use the official memorialization and closure processes.

When to Talk to a Professional

For a straightforward estate, this checklist and the executor documents will carry you through. Talk to a probate attorney if the estate is large or contested, if you are unsure how to get authority to act, or if significant identity theft has already occurred and is tangling the estate; our probate cost estimator shows what that process typically runs. If fraud appears, report it at IdentityTheft.gov (it has a pathway for deceased victims) and to local police promptly.

One gentle suggestion once the dust settles: If this process has you thinking about your own paperwork, a living trust and a written digital-asset plan are the kindest gifts you can leave the people who will one day do this for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a dead person’s identity be stolen?

Yes. It is called “ghosting,” and it is disturbingly common. Criminals use a deceased person’s name, Social Security number, and date of birth, often pulled from public obituaries and records, to open credit, file fraudulent tax returns, or claim benefits. Because no one is watching the deceased’s accounts, the fraud can go undetected for months. Prompt notifications are the main defense.

Who do I need to notify when someone dies?

Start with the Social Security Administration (the funeral home usually reports it, but confirm), then the credit bureaus, the deceased’s banks and creditors, insurers, the IRS and state tax agency, the DMV, and any pension or benefits providers. Notifying the SSA and the credit bureaus early is what shuts down most identity-theft attempts.

How do I notify the credit bureaus of a death?

Send a certified copy of the death certificate with a written request to place a deceased alert on the file. Per Experian, notifying one bureau leads it to notify the other two; you can also contact each bureau directly for certainty. Only a spouse or legally authorized person, such as the executor, can make the request. A few weeks later, check the credit reports to confirm the alert is in place.

Does Social Security notify the credit bureaus of a death?

Not directly or instantly. The SSA records the death and shares death data with other agencies and institutions over time, and the bureaus do receive death records that way. But that update is not immediate, which is why executors send a death certificate to the bureaus themselves; it closes the fraud window weeks earlier.

What documents do I need to close accounts?

Most institutions require a certified copy of the death certificate, and many also want proof of your authority to act, such as letters testamentary if you are the court-appointed executor, or a small estate affidavit where state law allows one. Order at least 10 certified death certificates up front, because you will send copies to many agencies and companies.

Can I use the deceased’s credit card for funeral expenses?

No. A credit card agreement ends at the cardholder’s death, so any new charge, even a clearly legitimate funeral expense, is unauthorized use. Pay estate expenses from an estate account and keep receipts; the estate reimburses properly documented costs.

How do I protect against identity theft after a death?

Notify the SSA and the credit bureaus quickly, limit the personal details in the obituary, monitor the deceased’s credit and your own, shred sensitive mail, register the name on the Deceased Do Not Contact list, and watch for a rejected tax return or new-account mail. Identity-monitoring services can alert you to misuse so you can respond before it spreads to surviving family members.

Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins writes about family law and estate planning for ClearLegalTips. She focuses on making wills, trusts, divorce, and custody decisions understandable for everyday readers handling them without a lawyer.