What happens to an AT&T account when someone dies
AT&T publishes its own process for a deceased person's account; a written request goes in through AT&T's support ticket system.
AT&T's terms give a family member a path to an AT&T account after the holder dies.
AT&T publishes its own process for a deceased person's account: AT&T "Manage due to death" (Change a wireless account due to a life event); a written request goes in through AT&T's support ticket system. The request takes 5 documents. AT&T Wireless (deceased account holder / Transfer of Billing Responsibility) answers at 1-800-331-0500.
How to request a transfer
- •The account number and mobile number, and the wireless account passcode if known.
- •The account holder's name, the requester's relationship to them, and the requester's contact email address.
- •The last four digits of the account holder's Social Security Number.
- •One of: an accident report, the death certificate, or an obituary for the account holder.
- •Pay any past-due balance before a line moves, and separate wireless from any internet, TV or digital phone service first.
- •Without the passcode, verification may happen at an AT&T retail store.
Required Documents
- Account number and the deceased's mobile number
- Name of the account holder, their relationship to you, and your contact email address
- Last four digits of the account holder's Social Security Number
- An accident report, death certificate or obituary for the account holder: Any one of the three: an accident report relevant to the account holder, the account holder's death certificate, or an obituary for the account holder.
- Wireless account passcode: If known. Lets you proceed without additional in-store verification.
What AT&T Inc. says happens8
- Transfer at death
The account cannot stay active under the deceased's name and Social Security number, except where the deceased's account billing address was in Oklahoma.1
Any past-due balance is paid before the deceased's line can be moved to another AT&T account, and an installment plan associated with the line stays active and transfers along with the line.1
Section 1.16.1 of the Consumer Service Agreement provides that a customer "cannot assign the Agreement or any rights or legal claims arising from it without our prior written permission," so the transfer runs through AT&T rather than a private handover.2
- Who owns the asset
Section 1.14.1 of the Consumer Service Agreement 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."2
An AT&T Reward Card, a Visa prepaid promotional card, is nontransferable, and the cardholder "is not the owner of the Card or the underlying funds." The funds expire when the card expires, and the card gives no cash access.4
- Closing the account
For AT&T's subscription services, the Consumer Service Agreement states that when an account is cancelled, AT&T re-assigns the phone number associated with it, and that number may no longer be available.2
- Fees
AT&T does not charge early termination fees or other cancellation fees for the deceased person's line of service.1
- Balances, payouts and refunds
A device on an installment plan that the family does not keep is returned to AT&T, which can then waive the remaining unbilled installment charges, whether the deceased was the account owner or a wireless authorized user on someone else's account.1
To keep a device on an installment plan, the plan is paid off first, after which the line can be canceled. Any outstanding account balance on the deceased's canceled account may be the responsibility of the estate.1
Any funds remaining on a Reward Card after it expires "will not belong to you," so an unspent Reward Card balance does not pass to an estate.4
- Subscriptions and billing
Billing on the account continues until the account is transferred or canceled.1
A transfer of billing responsibility produces one final prorated bill covering charges up to the date the transfer completed; partial-month charges or credits may appear on the next bill.3
- Deletion and data retention
Voicemails associated with the transferred lines are lost when the transfer completes.3
- Verifying the requester
Where the wireless account passcode is unknown, AT&T may still be able to help, but a visit to an AT&T retail store with more information may be needed to verify the account.1
Other companies and product lines involved1
- AT&T Reward Center
Checking an AT&T Reward Card's balance and expiration5
Not in AT&T's published guidance7
- How long a request takes
- A mailing address for a written request
- Disclosure of account content
- A deadline for the receiving owner to accept a transfer
- A way to get back the number of a canceled line
- A retention window for a deceased customer's voicemail or messages
- A death-of-customer clause in the Consumer Service Agreement
Sources5
- 1.Change a wireless account due to a life event ("Manage due to death"), last updated September 1, 2026
- 2.AT&T Consumer Service Agreement
- 3.Transfer billing responsibility, last updated April 29, 2025
- 4.Cardholder Agreement (AT&T Reward Card)
- 5.AT&T Reward Center - FAQ
A written request to AT&T can ask it to transfer the accounts to a named family member, preserve the account while the estate is opened, provide purchase and transaction records for the estate inventory and close the account.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter for AT&T drafts that request from the estate's details.
Sources
Data sourced from AT&T Inc. primary sources (6 pages reviewed). How we research.
AT&T estate claims
AT&T Wireless (deceased account holder / Transfer of Billing Responsibility)
Phone
Website
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