After a loved one’s death, one of the most important things that you need to take care of is forwarding or stopping the mails from being sent to their registered address. We understand how emotional this phase of life can be and one can easily forget about things like mail delivery.
But even in these challenging times, it’s a crucial thing to stop mail delivery at a post office. People forget to do this essential procedure because there can be essential mails and another document that needs to be received by someone to avoid relevant issues. However, this isn’t as easy as this may sound. A proper procedure must be followed to forward or stop mail delivery at a post office.
How to Forward USPS Mail After The Person Is Deceased:
In simple terms, forwarding means the mails received from a particular address will now be sent to a new address. When a person is deceased, and no one is available at their former address to receive their mails, their mail must be forwarded to a new address. This address could be of the descendants of the deceased person. In the USPS, a complete procedure needs to be followed to forward the mails of the deceased person.
For a Deceased Loved One:
One should forward the mails of the deceased person if they were living alone. If the deceased person was living with someone but still can’t emotionally or legally handle the mail, then one should get their mails forwarded for the time being.
There are three ways in which a deceased person’s mails can be forwarded:
If someone used to live with the deceased person and want to receive the mail or they didn’t live with the person and want to receive the mails to a new address, then the executor needs to:
- Visit the nearby post office.
- Proof themselves to be the deceased person’s executor to get the allowance to change the decedent’s mailing address.
- The executor then needs to fill out a Forwarding Change of Address Form at the post office.
2. If one only needs to forward a specific mail, that mail will be forwarded as necessary by crossing out the bar code and the current address. Also, one needs to write “Forward to [new address]” on the envelope. Further, drop the mail from where it gets picked up.
3. The Postal change of address (COA) forms give one to fill official dates from which the mails will start getting forwarded. The beginning of the forwarding of the mails can be from 30 days in the past and to 90 days in the future. It is recommended to fill out the forms two weeks before USPS’s new address is necessary.
Moreover, if someone doesn’t fill out the mail forwarding, then the mails of the deceased person will be received to the person or family moved in the house. This means that if there is an important paper, it will never make it to the person it may concern or to the person by whom they must be received after the owner of those emails dies.
For a Deceased Former Resident:
Suppose someone has recently moved to a new place and has been receiving the emails of the deceased former resident. They need to stop mail delivery at a post office, so they can stop receiving them. The most basic and simple thing you can do is forward piece by piece, especially early on:
If someone knows the mail’s forwarding address, one can cross out the address. Once the address is crossed out, one must write the “Forward to [new address]” on the piece. Further, you can place this piece into the place where they get picked up. Along with the address bar code must also be crossed out.
If someone doesn’t know the forwarding address of the mail: Once can write “Not at this address” on the piece. Drop the mail in an approved location. Along with this, one must not cross out the current address.
If you know the deceased person but don’t know the forwarding address: One must write “Deceased, Return to Sender” on the mailer. This way can also stop mail from being delivered to the old address of the deceased person, but it is not a guarantee.
Conclusion
This was all about how one can Stop Mail Delivery at a Post Office to the deceased person’s address. However, if someone is the descendent of the dead person, they must quickly change the forwarding address by visiting the post office. This will save them from many relevant issues from happening.
