What happens to AT&T accounts when the owner dies

AT&T asks for the account number and mobile number, the account holder's name and your relationship to them, the last four digits of the account holder's Social Security Number, and one of: an accident report, a death certificate, or an obituary for the account holder. Knowing the wireless account passcode lets you proceed directly; without it, AT&T may require additional verification, possibly at an AT&T retail store. Start by choosing CHAT when available or calling 800.331.0500.

AT&T states any outstanding account balance on the deceased's canceled account may be the responsibility of the estate, and that past-due amounts must be paid before a line can be moved to another account. AT&T states it does not charge early termination fees or other cancellation fees for the deceased's line of service. For a device on an installment plan that the family does not keep, AT&T states the device must be returned to AT&T in whatever condition it is in, and that when AT&T receives it, it can waive the remaining unbilled installment plan charges — this applies whether the deceased was the account owner or a wireless authorized user on someone else's account. To keep a device, AT&T states the installment plan is paid off first.

No. AT&T Reward Cards are Visa prepaid promotional cards. The Cardholder Agreement states the cardholder "is not the owner of the Card or the underlying funds," that the card "is nontransferable" and may be canceled, repossessed, or revoked, that the funds expire when the card expires, and that "any funds remaining after expiration of this Card will not belong to you." The card gives no cash access. AT&T also states rewards cannot be claimed after their expiration date. An unspent Reward Card balance is not an estate asset.

The deceased's line moves onto another AT&T account so the service and the number stay active. AT&T states wireless must be separated from any internet, TV, or digital phone service before the request starts, that accessory installment plans must be paid off, and that a device installment plan on the line stays active and transfers with the line. Voicemails associated with the line are lost when the transfer completes. The receiving account owner reviews the charges, completes a credit check, and accepts the Transfer of Billing Responsibility Terms & Conditions for Acceptor and the AT&T Consumer Service Agreement. The transfer produces one final prorated bill covering charges up to the date it completed. AT&T publishes no deadline for the receiving owner to accept.

No. As of July 2026, AT&T publishes no AT&T Thanks program: the former AT&T Thanks pages redirect to AT&T's app and support pages, and no live AT&T page describes the program, its tiers, or its perks. An estate handling an AT&T account has no AT&T Thanks balance or perk set to account for. The one rewards item that can still exist is an AT&T Reward Card, a Visa prepaid promotional card, which is nontransferable and expires.

No. The AT&T Consumer Service Agreement contains no death-of-customer provision — a full read of the published agreement on September 16, 2026 found no clause addressing death, an estate, an executor, or a personal representative. AT&T's deceased-account policy lives in its "Manage due to death" support article instead. What the agreement does address is the phone number: at 1.14.1 it states a customer has no "intellectual or other property rights in any information that we provide or use to deliver AT&T Services, such as any Account or phone numbers or email addresses assigned to you," and at 1.16.1 that a customer "cannot assign the Agreement or any rights or legal claims arising from it without our prior written permission." That is why a number a family wants to keep moves through AT&T's own transfer of billing responsibility rather than passing as estate property.