Husband has died question re e-mail, paypal and ebay

Magg1e

Sorry if these questions have been answered already, I have done a search and couldn't find anything.

My husband died recently and I am his next of kin and beneficiary.
I have a couple of questions about e-mail, paypal and ebay accounts that are in his name and wondered if anyone out there can advise me.

1. Paypal account - can I transfer this into my name and bank details or would I need to set up a new account.

2. Ebay account (we thought of this as ours but it is in his name) as we have good feedback and the account has been active for several years can I adk ebay to transfer it into my name or will they make me start a new account and lose all of our good feedback.

3. E-mail addresses (particularly his virgin medial one). I am anxious not to have any e-mail accounts closed down as things may pop up regarding accounts etc that I am not aware of. If I advise Virgin Media that he has died will they automatically close and wipe his e-mail account?

Thanks to anyone who can help and sorry for the essay.

thorsoak

First of all, my condolences - my husband died just over 2 years ago, and I know how much I still miss him.

Re your queries - I kept the paypal and e-bay account in his name as it came out of our joint a/c - like you it was "ours". With the e-mail address, I kept it going for quite some time, just setting up "forwarding" instruction to my account. I saw no reason to inform BT internet that he had died. I did think about sending an out of office type response, acknowledging emails and informing of his death/my email address but was advised against it as it would be giving spammers another address.

Again {{hugs}}

Magg1e

Thanks so much for your reply Thorsoak. I should really have asked my OH these things when he was still with me but he went downhill very fast at the end.

Can I just ask re the ebay/paypal thing I assume the fact that your bank account was changed to just your name didn't flag up with them?

Also I may have to inform Virgin Media as we have telephone/television and broadband with them and he was the registered account holder. I think I will just ask that I can keep the e-mail address. So hard at the moment as I'm sure you know.

Thanks so much again for taking the time to reply I really appreciate it and {{hugs}} to you too for being kind.

TomsMom

Hi Magg1e

I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope you are coping with everything that has to be done at this time.

Can I give you a word of warning about Virgin Media?

My husband died 18 months ago and we had broadband and phone with VM, the account was in my husband's name. Because he knew his illness was terminal he put a lot of affairs in order including getting a new contract with VM, still in his name but telling them he only had X months to live and ensuring that my name was put on file for any future dealings.

Came the time when I was sorting out all the bits and pieces following his death, I eventually got around to VM because I noticed that they had taken more than the agreed amount for a couple of months. I rang them, told them hubby had passed away and that there seemed to be a problem with the amount they were taking. I was told the amount had only been agreed for 6 months and I told them my late husband had assured me that the price had been agreed for 12 months. And that was the start of a very distressing episode where I was asked if they could speak to the account holder (my reply - well yes if you have a hot line to heaven), was accused of lying about telling them my husband had passed away, that they were going to close down the account because it was illegal for me to continue with it as I wasn't the account holder, that they would arrange a new account in my name but it would cost me half as much again per month, etc., etc., etc.

After many difficult phone calls, me asking to speak to a manager, the manager promising to look into getting a recording of the original phone call where I told them he had passed away, not getting calls back, chasing them and starting all over again, I eventually emailed the CEO and told him of how distressing this was to a recently bereaved person.

I could go on and on about this but long story short I had an email, followed by phone calls, from someone at the CEO's office and it did eventually get sorted, a refund made (which took about 6 weeks altogether) and a bouquet of flowers sent as an apology.

But the upshot was that I could not continue with the account. It was in his name and had to be closed. I could not afford to stay with them at the price they were offering so I went elsewhere and got a good deal.

However, despite the account being closed I still have that email address (it's in his name) and although I now use gmail the VM email is still active and I can send and receive emails.

I'm not advocating that you do this but with hindsight, if I were to go through this now, I would keep my mouth shut, not inform them that he had passed away (and it wouldn't bother me if it was legal or not, who's going to tell them???), wait until the end of the contract and see what they would offer me in my name and then compare it with other providers. If they needed to speak to the account holder to close the account then I would just say he had recently died, they don't need a death certificate or any other proof.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a better experience with them.

Magg1e

Hi Tomsmum,

Thank you for the useful information re Virgin Media, unfortunately I have told them of my husbands death and am waiting for a call back from their bereavement department (their words not mine). At least I am forewarned of what the situation may be.

And thanks for the information about the e-mail account, that's a relief.
Once again I appreciate that you have bothered to reply and I am so sorry for your loss as well.
Maggie

NowRetired

I would keep my mouth shut, not inform them that he had passed away

I would second this, my sister never told them about her husband passing away and still pays for her service from the still active joint account.

She has never told the bank either.

My other sister, when she became widowed, did all the changing names and informing everyone and had a lot of hassle, that is why my other sister did what she did.

Wywth

Magg1e wrote: »

Sorry if these questions have been answered already, I have done a search and couldn't find anything.

My husband died recently and I am his next of kin and beneficiary.
I have a couple of questions about e-mail, paypal and ebay accounts that are in his name and wondered if anyone out there can advise me.

1. Paypal account - can I transfer this into my name and bank details or would I need to set up a new account.

2. Ebay account (we thought of this as ours but it is in his name) as we have good feedback and the account has been active for several years can I adk ebay to transfer it into my name or will they make me start a new account and lose all of our good feedback.

3. E-mail addresses (particularly his virgin medial one). I am anxious not to have any e-mail accounts closed down as things may pop up regarding accounts etc that I am not aware of. If I advise Virgin Media that he has died will they automatically close and wipe his e-mail account?

Thanks to anyone who can help and sorry for the essay.

As I understand it, the paypal and ebay accounts are personal to the person who opened it. Any funds in the paypal account will form part of the deceased's estate and should eventually be distributed accordingly.

Regarding the Virgin email, well that is just part of their ISP package. I suggest you speak to Virgin to see if they would be prepared to put that account into your name

If the service providers otherwise get wind of the fact the account holder is dead, they may just suspend all access/services without notice.

TomsMom

Magg1e wrote: »

Hi Tomsmum,

Thank you for the useful information re Virgin Media, unfortunately I have told them of my husbands death and am waiting for a call back from their bereavement department (their words not mine). At least I am forewarned of what the situation may be.

And thanks for the information about the e-mail account, that's a relief.
Once again I appreciate that you have bothered to reply and I am so sorry for your loss as well.
Maggie

Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly for you Magg1e.

I never knew they had a bereavement department. I only rang them to query the increased amount they had taken by direct debit and mentioned in that phone call that he had passed away. I was never offered to be put through to the bereavement dept. All I got was the chap telling me that he would have to close the account as it was illegal for me to carry on with it.

Sounds like yours will be sorted through the "proper channels".

TomsMom

NowRetired wrote: »

I would second this, my sister never told them about her husband passing away and still pays for her service from the still active joint account.

She has never told the bank either.

My other sister, when she became widowed, did all the changing names and informing everyone and had a lot of hassle, that is why my other sister did what she did.

I can understand this but fortunately Virgin Media was the only one I had problems with. We had a joint current account with the Halifax and I did inform them, sent off death certificate etc., and it took a short while but there was so much else to do I just ticked everything off when they had been dealt with. The only problem I had was with the cheque book. I requested one in my name only and it took so long that I queried it on and I think I ended up with about three new cheque books. At the rate I get through them two of them will still be here when I no longer am!

Magg1e

Wywth wrote: »

As I understand it, the paypal and ebay accounts are personal to the person who opened it. Any funds in the paypal account will form part of the deceased's estate and should eventually be distributed accordingly.

Regarding the Virgin email, well that is just part of their ISP package. I suggest you speak to Virgin to see if they would be prepared to put that account into your name

If the service providers otherwise get wind of the fact the account holder is dead, they may just suspend all access/services without notice.

Thanks for your advice. The paypal account doesn't have anything in it, my OH used to put funds in it as necessary as it wasn't used very often. I was hoping to just leave them as they are and fund the paypal from the bank account as before (same account number). I may contact them and ask the question theoretically and see what they say.

I am still waiting to hear from the Virgin Media bereavement department, hopefully they will just be able to transfer all the accounts and e mails into my name. Thanks again for the advice.
Maggie