Planning ahead for your Costco membership
Lifetime transfer options and steps to take now for Costco Wholesale Corporation membership
Costco Member Services Center (Membership and Warehouse)
Costco Member Services (Deceased Primary — Primary Cardholder change in the event of a loss)
Costco Wholesale, Attn: Member Services, 800 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027
Costco Wholesale Corporation offers a process for transferring Costco membership after death. Lifetime planning provides additional options for how membership are used and who has access to them.
How to protect your Costco membership
Here are 7 steps to protect and manage your Costco membership while the account is active:
Family sharing
A Primary Member (and an Affiliate Member on a Business account) receives one free additional Household Card for a designated household member who is 16 years of age or older and living at the same address. The household member has their photo taken and added to their card when they collect it at the membership counter, and can shop independently. A Gold Star Membership carries exactly two people: "one Primary Member and one free household member who is over 16 and lives at the same address." The Primary Member must authorize cardholder changes, including additions or deletions, and is responsible for the membership; cards remain the property of Costco. Costco also lets the Primary Member designate a current Costco member as a Personal Administrator (or Business Administrator), who is authorized to change the address and phone number, update communication preferences, and upgrade or renew the membership — though "the Administrator cannot remove the Primary Member." Beyond the household card, members may bring up to two guests per visit, but only members may purchase. Costco Shop Cards are a separate way to share value: members and non-members alike may spend them, only members may purchase and reload them, and a digital Shop Card can be handed to someone else simply by forwarding the email.
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Frequently asked questions
Record your membership number, membership type, and renewal date where your executor can find them, along with the card your membership auto-renews to. If you want the membership to continue without interruption, add a household member 16 or older at your address as a free Household Cardholder, and consider designating a current Costco member as your Personal Administrator so someone else can renew and update the account. Note any unredeemed Executive 2% reward certificate, since it can only be redeemed while the membership is active and is subtracted from any cancellation refund, and keep any Costco Shop Cards with their numbers and PINs, since those never expire and can be spent by anyone.
No. Costco offers no beneficiary designation of any kind. The free Household Card is simply a second card issued to one designated household member who is 16 years of age or older and lives at the same address, and the Primary Member must authorize cardholder changes, including additions or deletions. It is the closest thing to continuity planning Costco has: if the household member already holds a card, they can keep shopping while Costco's "Deceased Primary" process moves the Primary Cardholder into their name. A Personal Administrator is a separate and narrower designation — Costco states an Administrator can change the address and phone number and renew or upgrade the membership, but "cannot remove the Primary Member." Cards remain the property of Costco throughout.
Listing the Costco account in an estate inventory identifies it for a fiduciary, who works through the operator's official channels to manage or close it.
Costco does not offer beneficiary designations, so there is no program-level mechanism for directing membership to a specific person at death.
Sources
Data sourced from Costco Wholesale Corporation primary sources (14 pages reviewed). How we research.
Costco Member Services Center (Membership and Warehouse)
Costco Member Services (Deceased Primary — Primary Cardholder change in the event of a loss)
Costco Wholesale, Attn: Member Services, 800 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027
Is this your situation?
Get a complete guide for your specific circumstances.
New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Learn more
Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
Learn more
New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
Learn more
Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
Learn moreMore estate planning resources
Explore related tools and documents to complete your estate plan.
How Much Does Probate Cost?
Estimate attorney fees, executor fees, court costs, and timeline for probating an estate in your state. See if the estate qualifies for simplified probate procedures.
Who Inherits Without a Will?
Find out who inherits your estate and how much they get if you die without a will. Based on your state's intestate succession laws.
How Much Are Estate & Inheritance Taxes?
Calculate federal estate tax, state estate tax (12 states + DC), and inheritance tax (5 states) for an estate or trust.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
See the true cost of estate planning. Compare SimplyTrust, Trust & Will, LegalZoom, and attorneys including life events like marriage, divorce, and having children.
How Much Does a Revocable Living Trust Cost?
Compare the cost of creating a revocable living trust. See how SimplyTrust, Trust & Will, LegalZoom, and attorneys compare over 5 years including life events.
How Much Does a Will Cost?
Compare the cost of creating a will. See document costs plus probate fees your heirs will pay. Compare SimplyTrust, Trust & Will, LegalZoom, and attorneys.
