How to Forward Mail After Death: Requirements and Time Limits

To forward mail after death, the executor or court-appointed administrator of the estate must visit a post office in person with Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, a certified death certificate, government-issued photo ID, and the deceased’s information. USPS will not accept an online change of address for a deceased person, and a death certificate on its own is not enough. As the postal service puts it plainly, “Simply having their death certificate is not enough.”¹

Who Can File the Request

Only someone with documented legal authority over the estate can redirect a deceased person’s mail. That means the executor named in the will, or an administrator appointed by a probate court when there is no will or the named executor cannot serve. The court documents that prove this authority are Letters Testamentary for executors and Letters of Administration for administrators.

This creates an awkward gap for many families, because probate can take weeks to produce those letters and mail keeps arriving in the meantime. If you lived at a different address from the deceased, your practical option during the wait is to ask whoever is at the deceased’s address to redirect specific pieces to you one at a time. If you shared the address, you have more room to maneuver, covered further down.

What to Bring to the Post Office

Gather everything before you go. Clerks cannot make exceptions, and one missing item means a second trip.

A certified copy of your Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court.
A certified death certificate. Order several extras while you’re at it, because banks, insurers, and agencies each want their own copy.
Your government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.
The deceased’s full legal name, last known mailing address, and date of death.
The forwarding address, along with your name and your relationship to the deceased.

At the counter, you will complete PS Form 3575, the standard change-of-address form. For a deceased person, this form has to be obtained and filled out in person.¹ The online change-of-address process charges a $1.25 identity verification fee, but the in-person process for a deceased individual uses your photo ID and legal documents to verify identity instead.²

What Happens After You File

The clerk will verify your ID, review your court documents, and process the form. Expect the visit to take longer than a routine postal errand, especially if a supervisor needs to review the paperwork.

Forwarding usually begins within about 3 business days, though USPS recommends allowing up to 2 weeks for everything to redirect fully. Mail arrives at the new address piece by piece, not in batches.² Keep checking the old mailbox during that first window so nothing slips through.

How Long Forwarding Lasts

Standard forwarding runs for 12 months. It covers First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and USPS Ground Advantage packages. Periodicals such as magazines and newsletters are also forwarded, though historically their forwarding window has been shorter, around 60 days.²

USPS offers paid extended forwarding for an additional 6, 12, or 18 months beyond the initial year. Whether that option is available on a deceased person’s forwarding order is not spelled out on the USPS site, so if the estate is still open as the one-year mark approaches, ask at your local post office.

Once forwarding expires, USPS returns mail to the sender for 6 months with a label showing the forwarding address. After that, undeliverable mail is simply returned to sender with no forwarding information at all. Use the active forwarding period to notify every institution and creditor of the death so their own records get updated before the safety net disappears.

Mail That Will Not Be Forwarded

USPS Marketing Mail, which covers most advertising flyers, catalogs, and bulk mailings, is not forwarded under a change-of-address order.² Those pieces are typically discarded or returned to sender. Some government mailings and legal notices may also be unforwardable, depending on how the sender classified them. If unforwardable mail keeps arriving at the old address, write “Deceased — Return to Sender” on the envelope and drop it back in the mailbox. That is often the only way to get the sender to update their file.

If You Shared an Address With the Deceased

Living at the same address gives you more flexibility. USPS lays out three options for people in that situation:¹

Open and manage the mail as needed to handle the deceased’s affairs.
Forward all mail to a different address, which still requires the same in-person visit with legal authority documents.
Forward a single piece by crossing out the address, writing “Forward to” and the new address on the front, and leaving it for carrier pickup or dropping it in a blue collection box. No paperwork required.

Single-piece forwarding is especially useful during the probate wait. If the executor lives elsewhere and needs a specific document that arrived at the shared address, redirecting that one envelope needs no court paperwork at all.

Other Notifications Worth Pairing With Forwarding

Redirecting mail handles delivery, but it does not tell anyone that the person has died. A few additional notifications keep the estate moving and cut down on identity-theft exposure.

Social Security

Funeral homes usually report deaths to the Social Security Administration, so this is often already done. If no funeral home was involved, or you are not sure, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 with the deceased’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death.³ The call stops ongoing benefit payments and opens the conversation about a $255 one-time death benefit for a surviving spouse and any survivor payments family members may qualify for.

IRS Form 56

File IRS Form 56 to notify the IRS that you are the fiduciary acting for the deceased taxpayer. Attach your Letters Testamentary or court certificate and send it to the IRS service center where the deceased filed tax returns.⁴ Form 56 directs IRS correspondence, refunds, and notices to you, but it only covers IRS mail, so it does not replace the USPS forwarding order.

Credit Bureaus

Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus to place a deceased notice on the credit file. The bureau you notify passes the information to the other two.⁵ Send a copy of the death certificate, the deceased’s legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, date of death, your name and address, and a copy of your ID. Non-spouses should also include court-appointment documents. Equifax accepts the notice at P.O. Box 105139, Atlanta, GA 30348-5139; TransUnion uses P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, and processes the notice within five business days.⁶ Once the deceased notice is on file, any new credit application in that person’s name should be denied.

Junk Mail Suppression

Forwarding redirects existing mail, but marketers keep generating new pieces. Register the deceased on the Deceased Do Not Contact List through DMAchoice.org, run by the Association of National Advertisers. There is a $6 processing fee, and promotional mail should drop noticeably within about three months.⁷ Persistent senders may need a direct call to their customer service line before they update their records.

1
USPS. How to Stop or Forward Mail for the Deceased
2
USPS. Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address
3
Social Security Administration. What to Do When Someone Dies
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56
5
Equifax®. After a Relative’s Death, Do I Need to Contact Each Nationwide Credit Bureau?
6
TransUnion. Reporting a Death of a Loved One to TransUnion
7
Federal Trade Commission. How To Stop Junk Mail