Estate planning as a Grubhub Driver account holder

Grubhub for Drivers is the side of Grubhub used by delivery partners — independent contractors who earn delivery pay plus 100% of customer tips for each completed delivery. Delivery payments and tips become viewable in the Grubhub for Drivers app 15 minutes after a delivery is completed and are paid out either by default weekly direct deposit or early through Instant Cashout. The estate-relevant assets are the uncashed earnings balance — money Grubhub owes for completed deliveries that has not yet reached the driver's bank account — and the earnings history and Form 1099-NEC the estate needs for the decedent's final self-employment tax return. Grubhub does not publish a deceased-driver or estate-transfer process, and the delivery partner account is personal to the individual.

When a Grubhub Driver account holder dies, their earnings may be transferred to a designated person at Grubhub Inc.'s sole discretion. A transfer is not guaranteed, and satisfactory documentation is required before processing any request.

What happens at death

Grubhub does not publish a dedicated deceased-driver or estate-succession process for delivery partner accounts. The Delivery Partner Agreement treats the account as personal to the individual delivery partner, bars the delivery partner from assigning the agreement without Grubhub's prior written consent (Section 16(a)), and lets Grubhub change, restrict, or pause access to the Driver App at any time; it contains no death or succession clause and no beneficiary designation. The one place the agreement addresses what outlives the contractor is its survival clause, which provides that the surviving sections continue in effect and are binding upon the parties and their legal representatives, heirs, successors and assigns — a general successor-binding term, not a death procedure. The estate-relevant assets are the uncashed earnings balance (delivery pay and tips Grubhub owes for completed deliveries that have not yet been swept to the bank by weekly direct deposit or pulled out by Instant Cashout) and the earnings and tax records for the decedent's final self-employment return. Because the balance is money owed for work already performed, it is claimable in principle, but Grubhub documents no self-service procedure for an estate, so the executor contacts Grubhub Driver Care directly with proof of death and proof of authority to act for the estate. The agreement also allows Grubhub to comply with legal process against a delivery partner's account, including withholding amounts that would otherwise be paid out, which can affect timing. Because Grubhub reviews these situations individually rather than through a published procedure, the policy is classified as case-by-case: the uncashed balance and the records may be obtainable, but the documentation, timeline, and outcome are not publicly documented and are determined by Grubhub on request. The account itself is personal and is not documented as transferable to an heir.