What happens to your phone number when you die?
The number stays active as long as someone keeps paying the bill. Family can usually cancel the line, move the number to another account with the same carrier, or transfer it to a different carrier. After a line is canceled, carriers have to hold the number for at least 45 days before giving it to someone new.
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Quick facts
- A disconnected residential phone number has to sit unused for 45 to 90 days before it can go to a new customer (47 CFR § 52.15(f), as of 2026).
- Verizon forgives the remaining device balance when a phone that is still being paid off is returned (Verizon, as of 2026).
- Verizon takes requests about the account of a customer who died at 800-922-0204 (Verizon, as of 2026).
- Family can usually move a deceased person's number to another account with the same carrier (Verizon, as of 2026).
How do you cancel a deceased person's phone line?
Contact the carrier and ask for the team that handles accounts of customers who have died. What you need depends on your role on the account.
- Find the account number, the phone number and, if you can, the account PIN or passcode.
- Have a death certificate ready. Executors may also need their court paperwork.
- Call the carrier, use its chat, or go to a company-owned store. Verizon, for example, takes these requests at 800-922-0204 or in its own stores, but not at retailers that sell its phones.
- Before you cancel, save any voicemails you want to keep.
Can you keep a dead person's phone number?
Usually, yes. Carriers let you move the number to another account with them, and some let you transfer it to a different carrier. One large carrier says any past-due balance has to be paid before the line can be moved.
Consider keeping the number for a while. Banks and online accounts often send login codes by text, and you may need those codes to close the person's accounts or download photos.
If you cancel the line instead, the number is held for a while and then given to someone else. FCC rules say a disconnected residential number has to sit unused for 45 to 90 days before it can go to a new customer.
What happens to the phone and the device payments?
That depends on the carrier and on whether you return the phone. Verizon says that if you return a phone that is still being paid off, the remaining balance is forgiven. If you keep the phone and disconnect the line, the rest is due on the next bill.
Another large carrier says it waives the remaining device payments once the phone is returned. It also doesn't charge early termination fees for the line of a customer who has died.
Any balance left on a canceled account may be the estate's responsibility.
Questions people ask
- Do I have to pay a deceased person's phone bill?
- No, not from your own money unless you share the account. A balance left on the person's account may be paid by the estate.
- Can I keep my mom's phone number after she dies?
- Usually, yes. Ask the carrier to move the line to your account, or transfer the number to your own carrier.
- Will someone else get my dad's phone number?
- Eventually. After a line is canceled, the number has to sit unused for at least 45 days before a carrier can give it to a new customer.
More questions
- Is there a fee to cancel a dead person's phone contract?
- Usually not for the line itself. At least one large carrier doesn't charge early termination fees when the customer has died. A phone that is still being paid off is different: Verizon forgives the balance if you return the phone, and bills the rest if you keep it.