Bills are still arriving in their name

Start with what is coming out of the bank

Before you touch the paper, look at the last two months of their bank and card statements. Most bills you are about to worry about are already being paid automatically. That list is more accurate than the pile on the kitchen table, and it tells you what will bounce if the account is frozen or emptied.

Write down every regular payment you find: the date, the amount, who it goes to, and which account it leaves from. Keep this as one list. You will add to it for weeks, and one list beats a drawer of envelopes.

If a payment covers something the household still needs, like the house, the heat, or the phone line you are using to make calls, keep it running for now. If it covers something only they used, you can usually stop it. Check the company's current help page for how to cancel, since the steps differ from one company to the next.

Which bills to keep paying for now

Keep paying anything tied to a place people still live or a service people still rely on. That usually means the mortgage or rent, utilities, home insurance, and any loan secured against the house or a car the family is still using. Letting these lapse creates problems that are harder to fix later than the bill itself.

Keep paying a phone bill if that phone is how you reach people or receive codes. Keep paying for storage if it holds their belongings. The test is simple: does stopping this cause a problem in the next month? If yes, pay it and sort out the name on the account later.

You do not need to move every account into your name today. Many companies will keep taking payment from the existing account while you work things out. Ask each one what they need from you, and do it one at a time.

Which ones you can stop

Subscriptions are the easiest place to start. Streaming services, app subscriptions, magazine renewals, gym memberships, and cloud storage plans for accounts nobody will use can usually be cancelled once you have the login or can prove you are handling the estate. Check the company's help page for the exact route.

Be careful with anything that holds something you might want later. A cloud storage plan may hold photos. A hosting plan may hold a website. Cancel the payment only after you have copied out what matters, or after you know how to get it back.

Some bills should not be paid from your own money without thought. If a bill is for a debt in their name alone, find out who is actually responsible before you pay it. That answer depends on the kind of debt and where you live, so check the rule where you live.

Keep one running list

A single sheet or a simple spreadsheet is enough. Give each bill a row with the company, what it is for, the amount, the due date, how it is paid, the login if you have it, and the current status. Update the status as you go: paying, paused, cancelled, transferred, waiting on paperwork.

Add a column for the date you last contacted them and what they told you. When you are tired and talking to the fifth call center of the week, that column is what keeps you from repeating yourself.

• Company and what the bill is for
• Amount and due date
• How it is paid, and from which account
• Login or account number, if you have it
• Status: paying, paused, cancelled, transferred
• Last contact date and what they said

If you are handling this with other family members, share the list. One person paying and another cancelling the same service is a common and avoidable mess.

When the money is not yours to move

If the account is in their name only, the bank may freeze it once they know about the death. That can stop automatic payments without warning. Call the bank and ask what happens next and what you can still pay from the account. Rules vary by bank and by where you live, so get the answer for this account, not a general one.

If the account was joint, the other person usually keeps using it, but check with the bank. If you are named to handle the estate, keep a simple record of what you pay and why. It helps later and it is not hard to do now.

The mail keeps coming

Bills in their name will keep arriving for a while, and some of it will be junk. You can ask senders to stop marketing mail, and you can have mail forwarded while you sort things out. For the accounts themselves, work through them at a steady pace rather than all at once.

Keep every bill you receive in one folder, even the ones you have already handled. A date on a piece of paper settles arguments later.

What can wait

Anything that is not due in the next month can wait until you have the list in front of you. Small refunds, loyalty points, and closing the last few subscriptions can all be dealt with after the urgent bills are steady. Give yourself a weekly half hour for this rather than trying to finish it in a weekend.

When you are ready to set this up for yourself, so your own family is not left guessing, you can start at signup and see what a sealed envelope holds at covers.