Deceased Do Not Contact List: How to Stop Mail for a Dead Person

Why the Mail Keeps Coming

Credit card offers, magazine renewals, insurance solicitations — the mail doesn't stop just because someone has died. Marketing databases operate on purchased lists that update slowly, and some never update at all. For a grieving family, each envelope addressed to the deceased is a small wound reopened.

The bigger problem is security. Prescreened credit offers arriving at the deceased's address are an open invitation for identity theft. Fraudsters who intercept these can open accounts in the deceased person's name — a crime called "ghosting" that affects roughly 2.5 million deceased Americans each year.

Register with DMAchoice (Deceased Do Not Contact List)

The Association of National Advertisers operates the Deceased Do Not Contact (DDNC) list through their DMAchoice.org portal. Registration tells direct-mail marketers to suppress the deceased person's name and address from their mailing lists.

To register:

1. Go to DMAchoice.org and select the Deceased Do Not Contact option
2. Enter the deceased's name, address, month and year of death, and age at death, plus your name, relationship, and email address
3. Pay the $6 processing fee
4. Allow up to 90 days for the suppression to take effect across major mailers

This won't stop every piece of mail — local businesses, nonprofits, and smaller mailers may not subscribe to the DMA suppression service. But it significantly reduces the volume from national marketers, credit card companies, and catalog retailers.

Stop Prescreened Credit Offers Separately

Prescreened credit and insurance offers come through the major credit bureaus, not through marketing lists. DMAchoice won't stop them. You need to take two additional steps:

OptOutPrescreen.com — Consumers can opt out of prescreened offers for five years online or permanently by mail. The site's published instructions do not describe a deceased-person request; ask the credit bureau about prescreened offers when notifying it of the death.

Place a Deceased Alert — Notify one credit bureau to flag the file as deceased; it will notify the other two. The alert tells creditors checking the file that the person is deceased and can help them stop a fraudulent application. It does not replace other steps to reduce prescreened offers or guarantee that every application will be stopped. You'll need to submit a death certificate and proof of your authority.

Handle USPS Mail Forwarding

Stopping marketing mail is separate from managing first-class mail. To redirect the deceased's postal mail to your address so you can catch account statements, bills, and legal notices:

• Visit your local post office in person with Letters Testamentary, a certified death certificate, and your government-issued photo ID
• Complete USPS Form 3575 (Change of Address) to forward mail to your address
• Note: there is no online option for forwarding a deceased person's mail — you must go in person

First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express forward for 12 months; periodicals forward for 60 days. USPS Marketing Mail is forwarded only if the mailer specifies forwarding instructions. During that period, redirected envelopes can help you identify accounts and obligations you might not have known about.

A Checklist Keeps All of This Organized

Between DMAchoice, OptOutPrescreen, credit bureau notifications, and USPS forwarding, mail management alone involves four different organizations with different forms, timelines, and required documents. And that's before you've touched Social Security, the IRS, Medicare, the DMV, or any of the other agencies on the notification list.

The Government Notifications Master Checklist sequences every notification — including mail suppression — in priority order with the exact steps, phone numbers, and documents required for each one.