Ingram Memorial Company

08/25/2026

Rest in Peace and Comfort, Sweet Dolly.

08/19/2026

🔒 An obituary is a tribute. It is also, read the wrong way, a completed security questionnaire.

Exact date of birth, birthplace, mother's maiden name, the home address, the names of every child and grandchild: that combination is most of what a bank asks before it resets a password.

Leave those out and the tribute still works, because age at death, city and state, first names of survivors, the work, the church, and where to send memorial gifts carry the whole life without carrying the identifiers.

Two details that get published together deserve their own mention: the service time and the family's address, which together announce exactly when a house will be empty.

The reason any of this matters is timing, since credit files stay open until someone reports the death, and thieves work that gap.

Send a copy of the death certificate to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and ask each to flag the file as deceased, and notify the Social Security Administration and the IRS as well, even though the funeral home often reports to Social Security first.

Then watch for the calls, because collectors sometimes pursue survivors for debts they do not personally owe, and in most situations family members are not responsible for a deceased person's debts, with exceptions for joint accounts, co-signed loans, and some community property states.

Callers also pose as the funeral home over an unpaid balance, or circulate donation links that route to no one, both of which arrive when a family is least able to scrutinize them.

None of this argues against publishing an obituary, only against publishing the four or five fields that do nothing for the memory and everything for a stranger.

New York's Division of Consumer Protection issued a warning on exactly this in June 2026, which is a fair signal of how routine it has become.

If you wrote one recently, which of these details did you include without a second thought?

P.S. Once a week, I email the best money article I read, with my take on this week's top Facebook posts and what's new on the Ways to Wealth blog. It's free, and you can sign up on the Ways to Wealth home page.

R.J. Weiss, CFP®



The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.

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