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Credit Protection | Veteran Funerals | Floral Arrangements

TIPS TO KEEP DECEASED LOVED ONES’ CREDIT PRIVATE AND PROTECTED

• Don’t include details such as day and month of birth (use only the year) or addresses in obituaries. (Aside from preventing identity theft, you don’t want thieves to visit the house, helping themselves while you are interring a loved one.

• Promptly notify the Social Security Administration of the death at 1-800-772-1213 between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm Monday-Friday. For the hearing impaired, the number is 1-800-325-0778.

• Mail copies of the death certificate to all three credit reporting bureaus- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – and all credit issuers to cancel accounts right after the person dies. The credit bureau addresses are:

Equifax Office of Fraud Assistance
P.O. Box 105069
Atlanta, GA 30348

Experian
P.O. Box 9530
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

• Contact your state department of motor vehicles to cancel any driver’s license and prevent duplicates from being issued.
• By law, you are entitled a free credit report from all three main bureaus every year. Several weeks following the death, use this service- at www.annualcreditreport.com – to run a credit report on the deceased to ensure there is no suspicious activity.

Sample letter:

Dear Sir/Madam,

To prevent any future risk of identity theft, please place an official death notice on the credit file of:
DECEASED FULL NAME (WITH MIDDLE INITIAL IF USED)
ADDRESS
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
BIRTHDATE
Enclosed you will find a copy of the death certificate. Please contact me if you have any questions by phone or email…

Thank you
Your name and

Grief Support Group
For community members
Second and fourth Thursdays of the month (6:30 p.m.)
Warwick Medical and Professional Center, Building 6
12420 Warwick Blvd., Newport News, Virginia
Call 757-594-2745 for more details.
Grief Support and Information
For community members
Second and fourth Tuesdays of the month (6:30-8 p.m.)
Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg
1500 Commonwealth Ave., Williamsburg, Virginia
Call the bereavement coordinator at 757-594-2745 for more details.