Accouncement
Credit bureau death notification is now free for every family — closing the fraud gap that opens after a death.
June 30, 2026
A person's identity doesn't die when they do. For months after a death, a Social Security number, a date of birth, and a home address keep working exactly as they did in life — and fraudsters know it.
It's called “ghosting.” Criminals comb obituaries, estate filings, and data breaches for the recently deceased, then use their information to open credit cards, take out loans, and file fraudulent tax refunds. The deceased can't check their own statements. Their family often won't think to look for months. By the time anyone notices, the damage lands on the estate and the heirs.
Today we're making the single most effective protection against this — notifying the three credit bureaus of a death — free for everyone, whether or not they use Sunset.
Why this matters
Deceased-identity fraud is one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, and the reason is structural: the safety net that's supposed to catch it has been quietly fraying for years.
The Social Security Administration's Death Master File is the closest thing the country has to an authoritative record of who has died. Banks, lenders, and credit bureaus rely on it to flag deceased individuals and shut down fraud. But the public version of that file has been shrinking. After a 2011 policy change, the SSA stopped including deaths reported by states in the publicly available file — removing roughly a million death records a year from the version most companies can actually see.
The result is a dangerous gap. A person can be deceased for months while their credit file still reads “alive and in good standing.” That gap is exactly where ghosting fraud happens.
The system wasn't built for this
Banks and credit card companies are good at fighting fraud committed by living people. They are not built to fight fraud committed as a deceased person.
There's no fraud alert a grieving family can flip on. There's no online portal at the bureaus to report a death. The official channel is a physical letter — formatted to each bureau's requirements, with the right documentation, mailed to the right P.O. box. Most families don't know this exists, and the ones who do are asked to draft three formal letters and a death certificate package during the worst week of their lives.
And the bureaus themselves are in a difficult position. When a death is reported, they have to decide — often on thin evidence — whether to flag the file, notify creditors, and freeze the account. Acting on a bad report can wrongly lock a living person out of their own credit; ignoring a real one leaves the door open to fraud. Without a stable, trustworthy source of truth like a complete Death Master File to verify against, they're left to make that call largely on their own.
So it often doesn't get done well, or doesn't get done at all. And the credit file stays open.
What Sunset does about it
Sunset is a certified, approved subscriber to the Social Security Administration's Limited Access Death Master File. Verifying deaths and acting on them is core to everything we do — it's how we help families discover accounts, settle estates, and protect what's left behind.
Now we've turned that capability outward, for free:
- You provide the basics. The deceased's name, address, Social Security number, and date of death, plus a copy of the death certificate.
- Sunset prepares the letters. We generate three formal death-notification letters, each formatted to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion's specific requirements.
- We mail them for you. Letters go out to each bureau's official address. You get an email confirmation within a few business days.
Notifying the bureaus places a deceased flag on the credit file. New accounts can't be opened. The “alive and in good standing” gap closes — and the most common path for ghosting fraud closes with it.
Who this helps
Anyone who has lost someone. You don't need to be settling the estate, and you don't need a Sunset account. A surviving spouse, an adult child, an executor, or a sibling can complete the form in a few minutes and know one of the most important protective steps is handled.
Get started
Report a death to the credit bureaus, for free, at hellosunset.com/report-death-to-credit-bureaus.
We built Sunset to take the weight of estate settlement off of families. Protecting a loved one's identity after they're gone shouldn't be one more thing you have to figure out alone.
About Sunset
Sunset is the leading inheritance and estate settlement software, used by thousands of families and professionals to discover assets, generate probate documents, and move inheritances where they need to go — across all 50 states and every county. Backed by Y Combinator, Sunset is built by a team that has personally been through estate settlement and knows how heavy it can be. Our mission is simple: take the weight of settling an estate off of the people who are grieving. Tools like free credit bureau notification are part of that promise — protections every family deserves, whether or not they ever pay us a cent.
HOW WE MAKE MONEY
We’re paid by banks, not families
Just like any bank, we make money from interest yielded while money sits in the estate bank account.
No out-of-pocket costs or fees
You never pay for anything out of pocket. Ever.
We make money on interest
No hidden costs. No surprise fees. No fine print.
You keep all your money
We never take a cut of your inheritance.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly will I see results?
5 to 14 days.
We'll email you as soon as your requested searches are complete, and you can log in to review and close any discovered accounts when you're ready.
Who can use Sunset?
Any family member, executor, administrator or personal representative responsible for managing a deceased person’s assets can use our software tool. We support asset search and probate in all 50 states and every county in the U.S.
Am I responsible for their debts?
No, the deceased was solely responsible for their debts. If a loan was backed by a physical asset, such as a home or vehicle, you have options to transfer or payoff from estate proceeds.
For a loan that was jointly held, the responsibility remains with the other person on the account, often a spouse. Sunset automatically identifies if a debt has a living responsible party, and clearly flags it.
What is an estate bank account? Who controls it?
An estate bank account is a standard bank account in the estate’s name where all funds are consolidated. You can use it to pay expenses, view a full transaction history, and eventually distribute inheritance to beneficiaries.
With one click Sunset can set up an estate bank account.
You control the estate bank account. You can pay bills, taxes, and distribute the funds to heirs.
All estate bank accounts set up by Sunset are FDIC insured and protected from fraud and identity theft.
How can I pay estate expenses?
With your estate bank account you can use to pay expenses to settle your loved ones affairs. You can also reimburse yourself for expenses you may have paid out of pocket before the bank account was set up.
This includes paying for funeral expenses, accountants and attorneys if needed (most families do not need these services when working with us), realtor fees when selling property, money going towards settling debts, money spent fixing up a property before selling it, etc.
What security measures does Sunset have?
Sunset is SOC 2 Type II certified, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards in how we build our software and store data so that you’re always protected. We have in-depth fraud and identity verification measures on the deceased and the beneficiaries, and we run background checks on all employees.
What about probate documents?
You can use our software to generate and sometimes file probate documents in every county nationwide.
Online notarization is also available through Sunset.
If your case is unusually complex, or disputed, we recommend hiring experienced probate counsel.
Can Sunset help my probate attorney?
Yes. Attorneys regularly recommend Sunset to their clients. Before your attorney can guide you on the right probate path, they need a complete picture of the estate's assets and debts. Sunset generates a comprehensive Estate Asset Inventory with account numbers, balances, and more, giving your attorney exactly what they need to move forward quickly.
Will financial institution be notified of a Sunset search?
No, we do not notify any financial institutions of the death when performing our searches, except for in the case of life insurance.
Our process combines document review, data integrations, and indirect verification with financial institutions. Families usually discover most accounts within 1 day, although some bank account confirmations take up to two weeks.
Financial institutions are only notified after a request for closure and transfer has been made by you.
How much does Sunset cost?
Sunset Free is free for families settling an estate. Sunset Pro, our paid product for probate attorneys, licensed fiduciaries, trustees, and aftercare specialists, starts at $500 per asset search, with monthly subscription plans available for Solo Practitioners, Small Firms, and Large Firms.
For families, Sunset never charges a fee or takes a percentage of the estate. All family-facing tools are free, including search and discovery, probate document generation, account closure, asset transfer, and estate bank account setup. No upfront fees. No subscriptions. No deductions from the inheritance.
Our revenue from the family side comes from bank partners. They pay us a referral fee when assets transfer to receiving institutions, and we share in the interest while funds sit in the estate bank account. Sunset Pro subscriptions from professionals are how we sustain the rest of the product. All of the deceased's assets go to the beneficiaries and heirs.
