How Do I Report a Death?

Inform the Social Security Administration (SSA) of the person’s death. Funeral home directors typically report the death. If not, you can call the SSA at 800-772-1213 (TTY: 800-325-0778). The SSA does not allow you to report a loved one’s death online.

Once you have informed the SSA of the death, then inform at least one of the nationwide credit reporting agencies (NCRA) - Equifax^®, Experian^® or TransUnion^®. They’ll add a death notice to the deceased person’s credit reports. This notice prevents lenders from issuing new credit in the deceased’s name, which helps prevent theft of their identity. When one NCRA adds a deceased notice to the person's credit file, that NCRA will notify the other two. The other two NCRAs do not need to be notified of the person’s death.

If you are the spouse of the deceased person or a representative legally authorized to act on the person's behalf, you can ask to have a deceased notice placed on a loved one's Equifax credit report by mailing in a copy of the death certificate along with the following information about the deceased:

• Legal name
• Social Security number
• Date of birth
• Date of death

Please also include your name, your mailing address to send final confirmation and a copy of your identification, such as a driver's license or other government-issued identification.

If you are not the spouse of the deceased, you will also need to include court documents authorizing you to legally act on their behalf.

Mail the required information to:

Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 105139
Atlanta, GA 30348-5139