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# Mail Addressed to the Deceased

## How to Stop or Forward Mail

After loved ones pass, you can stop mail from being sent to their addresses. Learn how to file a proper request at the Post Office™ to redirect their mail or remove them from advertising lists.

## Advertising – Do Not Contact List

The Data & Marketing Association maintains a Deceased Do Not Contact List (DDNC). Within 3 months of registering the deceased's name with DDNC, advertising mail should decrease.

Register on DMAchoice.org

## If You Shared an Address

If you shared a mailing address with someone who has died and continue to receive that mail, you have several options:

- You may open and manage the deceased's mail as needed.
- You may forward all of the deceased's mail to a different address. See If You Have a Different Address.
- You may forward a single piece of mail, for example, to an appointed executor, without going to a Post Office™ location. To forward the single mailpiece:

1. Neatly cross out your address.
2. Print Forward to and the new address on the front of the envelope.
3. Leave the envelope in your mailbox for carrier pickup, drop it off in a blue collection box, or take it to a Post Office lobby drop.

## If You Have a Different Address

To forward the deceased's mail to yourself or to a different address, you must go to a Post Office location to submit a change of address request. You will need to:

- Provide documented proof that you are the appointed executor or administrator authorized to manage the deceased's mail. (Simply having their death certificate is not enough.)
- Complete a change of address request in person.

Find a Post Office