…person has died?
What other places are notified? Is credit card companies and others notified somehow and if so who does it. I’ve noticed I got letters from his bank, social security, his health insurance co. already and its only been 2 wks. since he passed away. I never gave out anything to the funeral home etc.
The health insurance company is notified by the medical profession. Once that info is in the computer every company has access. You are obligated to notify all and to make arrangements to probate his will and pay all debts
These are addressed by the funeral director and that is part of his/her job
They report the death to social security by the deceased ss number and
address. Social Security logs this information onto the decease’s record
and the checks are stopped at that point – everything else is left to the
family to take care of such as insurance, credit cards, bank, taxes etc
They are required by law to furnish this information to Social Security,
the state and federal vital statistics – no one else is included in the law
The funeral home gets the information from the hospital or from the
state vital statistics – they can’t do anything with the body until this
information is confirmed – finger prints are even sent by the funeral home
to verify who this person really is. You’d be surprised at what they can do
Whatever you do, don’t pay the people who has already sent you bills etc. It could very easily be a scam, all someone has to do is see a persons name in the paper, and make up legitimate looking papers & envelopes. I would contact my attorney and let him handle it or try and do the research yourself. I would be very suspicious that they have contacted you first! Be very careful!
Get at least a dozen death certificates and be prepared to mail them out to countless government agencies and businesses. What is even more fun is when they received the notice, acknowledge it, and then keep billing or notifying or whatever else they do to annoy you and keep the pain of loss front and center in your mind. I had one telephone company that kept rebilling for over a year. They even turned it over to a collection agency. I contacted them nine times, they said that they had no account for my mom, then the next month they billed the credit card again. I finally threatened them with the Better Business Bureau and suddenly, the problem was solved.
Some will accept just a verbal or written notification but I finally resorted to just a simple letter and a copy of the death certificate. That usually worked. If they won’t acknowledge it, send it registered mail. Sometimes you find vultures that will try to bill you for debts the deceased never owed. My sympathies and I wished the process was easier — but I found it to take a long time and a lot of effort.
Banks regularly check the death records and obituary notices that are published. The mortuary must report a death to the Public Health Dept., the Medical Examiner or Vital Statistics office. If you are getting mail you can call these people and advise them that the person has passed away as a courtesy. Sometimes mail continues to come until someone notifies the post office about the death. The bank will notify Social Security if the person has direct deposit.