How do I find every account he had?

The short answer

Follow the money. Twelve months of bank and card statements show almost every bill, subscription and account that was paid for. His mail and his tax forms show most of the rest.

Put each one on a single list as you find it. Deciding what to keep or cancel comes later.

This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.

What to do

1. Gather twelve months of his bank and card statements, or ask the bank and the card company for copies.
2. Highlight every payment that repeats, and circle every one you can't place.
3. Add each one to The household audit, with the phone number from its statement or bill.
4. Ask the lawyer before you read his email, even if it is already open.
5. Find last year's tax return and its forms, and add every company that sent one.
6. Search each state's unclaimed property program in his name, starting at unclaimed.org.
7. Keep opening his mail for a year, and add each new company to the list.

What can wait

• Cancelling things. List first, and decide later.
• Getting into his online accounts. The paper trail comes first, and How do I get into his phone, computer and email? covers the rest.
• A finished list. It will keep growing for most of a year as the mail comes in.

Who can help

Your bank can tell you what it can print for you, and a friend or relative can read the statements with you.

For an account in his name alone, a lawyer handling his estate can say who is allowed to ask for what. If there isn't one, your state or local bar association runs a lawyer referral service.

Your state's unclaimed property office can answer questions about a claim. A helper, or a librarian at your public library, can do the online searches with you.

The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.

Hear when the next book is out

Five or six short emails a year at most, and a note when a new book is out. Each one is about something that tends to come up in the first two years. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.