How to Get a Credit Report for a Deceased Person

To get a credit report for a deceased person, mail a written request to any of the three major credit bureaus along with a certified copy of the death certificate and proof that you have legal authority to act on the estate’s behalf. Only two categories of people qualify: a surviving spouse, or a court-appointed executor or administrator. Once you notify one bureau, it will share the death notice with the other two, but if you want an actual copy of the report from each, you have to request from each individually.

Who Can Request It

Credit bureaus limit access to the deceased’s file to a surviving spouse or a court-appointed representative such as an executor or administrator. The paperwork differs by role.¹

A surviving spouse can identify themselves as the spouse in the letter and provide a mailing address. An executor or other third party has to include a copy of a government-issued photo ID and proof of court appointment, meaning letters testamentary (issued when the deceased left a will naming an executor) or letters of administration (issued when there is no will and the court appoints an administrator).² Either document proves to the bureau that you have standing to manage the estate’s financial affairs.

Documents to Gather

Every request needs a certified copy of the death certificate. You can order copies from your state or county vital records office; fees run roughly $5 to $34 per copy, with most states charging between $15 and $25. Order several at once, because banks, creditors, and insurance companies will each want one too.

Funeral homes typically report the death to the Social Security Administration on your behalf, so a separate SSA contact usually isn’t required.³ But the SSA’s internal process can take time to reach the credit bureaus, which is why sending the death certificate yourself is worth doing.

If you’re an executor or administrator, add your court-issued letters testamentary or letters of administration. And include a copy of your driver’s license or other government-issued ID so the bureau can verify your identity.⁴

What to Put in the Letter

Give the bureau enough information to pull the right file. About the deceased, include:

Full legal name, including suffixes like Jr. or Sr. to avoid confusion with relatives who share the name.
Social Security number, which is the primary identifier bureaus use.
Date of birth and date of death.
Last known address, plus any recent previous addresses if the person moved in the last few years.

About yourself, include your name, mailing address, and a plain statement of your relationship to the deceased (spouse, executor, or administrator). Type or print everything. Handwritten letters that are hard to read cause processing delays.⁴

Where to Send It

Each bureau has a dedicated address for estate-related requests:

Experian also allows you to upload the death certificate online, which is faster than mailing a physical packet.⁵ Equifax and TransUnion still require mail as of 2026.

Send physical packets by certified mail with a return receipt. The tracking number is your proof of delivery if a bureau later says it never received your documents. Keep copies of everything.

What Happens After You Submit

Once a bureau processes the request, it places a deceased alert on the file. That alert notifies any lender who pulls the report that the person has died, blocking most attempts to open new accounts in the name.⁵ You’ll get either a copy of the credit report or a confirmation letter describing what was updated.

There’s a shortcut worth knowing: once you notify one bureau, it shares the deceased notice with the other two.⁵ If all you need is the flag, one notification is enough. If you need the actual report, submit to all three. Each bureau’s file may list different accounts, because a creditor that reports to Equifax may not report to TransUnion.

If the bureau needs more from you, expect a letter. Respond promptly so the estate doesn’t stall.

Reading the Report and Disputing Errors

Go through every account line by line. You’re looking for three things: legitimate debts the estate owes, accounts that were already closed or paid but still show a balance, and accounts the deceased never opened, which can signal identity theft.

If an account doesn’t belong, or a balance is clearly wrong, dispute it with the bureau that issued the report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus must investigate disputes and correct inaccurate information.⁶ Send the dispute in writing, include copies of supporting documentation, keep the originals, and expect a response within 30 days.

For legitimate debts, write down the creditor, account number, and balance. That list is the starting point for settling the estate’s liabilities during probate. Creditor claims filed against the estate should match what’s on the reports; a claim that doesn’t appear on any of the three is worth investigating before the estate pays it.

If There’s No Formal Probate

Many states let heirs skip full probate for smaller estates by using a small estate affidavit. Dollar thresholds vary widely, from around $15,000 in some states to over $180,000 in others, with most falling between $25,000 and $100,000.

Credit bureaus don’t explicitly list small estate affidavits as accepted documentation. The federally authorized AnnualCreditReport.com site says you need either a death certificate or letters testamentary, plus a court order or other document showing executor status.⁷ If you’re working with a small estate and don’t have letters testamentary, send the affidavit along with the death certificate and a cover letter explaining the situation. Be ready for the bureau to ask for more documentation.

Getting Ahead of Identity Theft

The window between the death and the moment the credit file gets flagged is when fraud is most likely. Funeral homes report deaths to the SSA, and that information eventually reaches the credit bureaus, but there are delays.³ People who monitor obituaries or public death records can try to open accounts in the deceased person’s name before anyone flags the file.

Notifying the bureaus yourself, as soon as you can after the death, closes that gap. Once the deceased alert is in place, any credit application in that name triggers a warning to the lender.⁵ Beyond the bureaus, use the credit report itself as a list of who to call: the deceased person’s banks, card issuers, and other financial institutions should each be contacted directly to close or freeze accounts.

If you discover accounts that were opened fraudulently, report the identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and file a police report. Both documents help when you dispute the fraudulent accounts with creditors and bureaus.

One related error to watch for on your own file: a lender sometimes reports both the deceased and a surviving joint account holder as dead. If that happens, your own credit file gets flagged as deceased, which can freeze your ability to borrow or use existing accounts. Contact the creditor to correct it, and follow up with each bureau to confirm the flag has been removed from your file.⁸

1
TransUnion. Reporting a Death of a Loved One to TransUnion
2
Legal Information Institute. Letters of Administration
3
Social Security Administration. What to Do When Someone Dies
4
Equifax. After a Relative’s Death, Do I Need to Contact Each Nationwide Credit Bureau?
5
Experian. How to Report a Relative’s Death to Credit Bureaus
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
7
Annual Credit Report.com. Requesting Reports in Special Situations
8
Experian. How to Handle Credit and Debt After the Death of a Spouse