How to Notify the Credit Bureaus After a Death
Send the death certificate to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to flag the file 'Deceased — do not issue credit' and shut down the new-account fraud that spikes after a death. Here are the addresses and phone numbers — plus every other institution the estate has to notify.
Notifying more than the bureaus? See how Sedare handles the rest
Report it to all three
Mail or call each of the three nationwide credit bureaus. Send a copy of the death certificate and ask them to flag the file 'Deceased — do not issue credit.' This is the main protection against the new-account fraud that spikes after a death.
Equifax
1-888-548-7878
P.O. Box 105139, Atlanta, GA 30348-5139
Experian
1-888-397-3742
P.O. Box 9701, Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion
1-800-916-8800
P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016-2000
- What to send
- A copy of the death certificate and the deceased's legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, date of death, and last known address. Include a copy of your own photo ID and proof you're authorized to act — court appointment letters, or documentation of your relationship if you're the surviving spouse.
- What to ask for
- Two things: flag the file 'Deceased — do not issue credit,' and mail you a copy of the deceased's credit report so you can find every open card, loan, and line of credit that still needs to be closed.
Social Security also reports deaths to the bureaus, but it can take weeks and may not reach all three. Notifying them yourself locks the file faster — and that credit report is the cleanest single list of accounts you'll need to notify.
The bureaus are one stop on a longer list
Flagging the credit file protects against fraud. But every account that report reveals — banks, cards, the IRS, insurers — has to be notified separately, each with its own form and deadline.
200+ hours
Average time families spend on post-death paperwork over six months.
30+ institutions
Banks, IRS, Medicare, insurers, utilities, credit cards, brokerages, pensions, the DMV.
Different rules each
Every institution wants a different form, different documents, different deadlines. Miss one and you risk frozen accounts or executor liability.
Once the bureaus mail back the credit report, you'll have the full list of who to notify. Here's how to get every letter written without spending the next six months on it.
Free guide
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The full list of who you'll need to notify after a death — and the order to do it in. Email it to yourself for later. No subscription, no follow-up sales pitch.
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Generate every notification letter in 5 minutes — from one death certificate
Upload once. Sedare extracts every field, validates it, and pre-fills letters for SSA and the institutions you actually need.
01
Upload the death certificate
Photo or PDF, any U.S. state. Sedare extracts 31 fields — name, Social Security number, date of birth, date of death, cause, place of death, informant — using a model trained specifically on U.S. death certificates.
02
Review what we extracted
High-confidence fields are auto-approved. Lower-confidence fields are flagged for a quick check. The whole review takes about two minutes.
03
Download or send the letters
You get pre-filled, formatted letters for Social Security and the rest of the institutions on your list — banks, IRS, Medicare, insurers, credit cards. Print and mail, or have us dispatch them for you.
One $49 estate, every letter you need
30+ institution letters, generated from a single death certificate.
Federal & state
- ✓Social Security Administration
- ✓Medicare
- ✓IRS (Form 56 and Form 1310)
- ✓Veterans Affairs
- ✓State DMV
- ✓Voter registration
Financial
- ✓Banks (any U.S. bank)
- ✓Credit card issuers
- ✓Brokerage and retirement accounts
- ✓Life insurance carriers
- ✓Mortgage servicers
- ✓Pension plans
- ✓Utilities (electric, gas, water, internet)
Don't see one you need? Sedare generates a custom letter for any institution — at no extra charge.
What you're paying for
Built for U.S. death certificates
Not a generic form-filler. Sedare reads layout, handwriting, and state-specific formats from any of the 50 U.S. states.
98.7% extraction accuracy
Validated across 108 certificates from 14 states. Every field gets a confidence score; low-confidence fields are flagged for your review.
Bank-grade encryption
The same standard used by your bank to protect your accounts. Enterprise-grade security. We don't share or sell anything you upload.
30-day money-back guarantee
If Sedare doesn't generate the letters you need, we refund the $49. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no fine print.
Pricing
$49per estate
Every letter for every institution. One payment. No subscription.
30-day money-back guarantee.
Get startedCommon questions
Do I have to notify all three credit bureaus, or just one?
Notify all three. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion keep separate files, and while a death reported to one is often shared, there's no guarantee it reaches the others. Mailing a copy of the death certificate to each — or calling each line — is the only way to be sure every file is locked.
How do I flag a deceased person's credit file?
Send each bureau a copy of the death certificate and ask them to add a deceased indicator — 'Deceased — do not issue credit.' Once flagged, the bureaus reject applications for new credit in the person's name, which is the main protection against post-death identity theft.
Should I request the deceased's credit report?
Yes. Ask each bureau to mail a copy of the deceased's credit report. It's the single best inventory of open accounts — cards, loans, lines of credit — so you can notify and close each one. As the executor or surviving spouse, you're entitled to it with proof of your authority.
Does Social Security notify the credit bureaus automatically?
Eventually. SSA shares death data with the bureaus, but it can take weeks and isn't guaranteed to reach all three. Notifying them yourself locks the file faster and doesn't depend on the timing of the SSA feed.
Who can report a death to the credit bureaus?
The executor or administrator of the estate, a surviving spouse, or another authorized representative. You'll need to send proof — a copy of the death certificate, plus court appointment letters or documentation of your relationship.
Does flagging the credit file erase the deceased's debts?
No. Flagging stops new credit; it doesn't cancel existing balances. Debts are generally paid from the estate during probate, not inherited by relatives. The executor handles outstanding balances as part of settling the estate.
Working through the rest of the estate? Read our complete guide to notifying institutions after a death.