How to Cancel a Deceased Person's Subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime and More)

The first bank statement after a death is often where families discover the subscriptions. A streaming service here, a music service there, cloud storage, an app, a newspaper, a gym. None of them know the person has died, and every one of them will keep charging until something stops it.

This guide explains the two ways a subscription ends, how to find every subscription the person had, and what to do for the services families ask about most: Netflix and the other streaming services, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and anything billed through Apple, Google or Microsoft. It also covers the contracts that do not behave like subscriptions at all.

Two Ways a Subscription Ends

A subscription stops for one of two reasons: the payment fails, or somebody cancels it.

Payment failure does most of the work. When the bank is told that the account holder has died, it freezes the person's sole accounts and cancels their cards. From that point every card payment fails. Most subscription services try the card a few more times, send a warning email or two, and then cancel the subscription themselves. For a typical streaming or music service this takes between two and six weeks, and nothing is owed.

Proper cancellation matters in three cases. First, when the subscription is billed to a joint account or to a surviving partner's card, because nothing fails and nothing stops. Second, when the service holds something you want to keep, such as photos in cloud storage, because a cancelled account can be deleted. Third, when the payment is not a subscription at all but a contract with a minimum term. Mobile phones, broadband, energy, insurance and gyms fall into that group, and they can pass an unpaid bill to a debt collector who then writes to the estate.

Find Every Subscription

Nobody keeps a list. These five places find nearly all of them.

Streaming: Netflix, Disney+, NOW and the Rest

With the login: in Netflix, open Account and choose Cancel membership. Disney+, NOW, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and the others all have the same option under the account or subscription settings. Cancelling stops the next payment and keeps the service running until the paid period ends.

Without the login: contact the service's help centre by chat or phone, explain that the account holder has died, and give the email address on the account. Netflix and the other large services will cancel on that basis, and some will close the account as well. None of them normally refund a partly used month, so do not wait for a refund before moving on.

If the service is billed to a surviving partner's card, cancel it rather than waiting for a failed payment, because the payment will not fail.

Music and Audio: Spotify, Audible and Apple Music

Spotify. With the login, sign in at spotify.com, open the account page and cancel the subscription. Without it, use the contact form in the Spotify help centre and say that the account holder has died. Spotify also cancels by itself after failed payments. If the plan is billed through Apple or Google, cancel it in that store instead.

Audible. Audible is an Amazon service, so it is cancelled from the Audible account page or through Amazon customer service. Unused credits are lost when the membership ends, so if you have access and want the books, use the credits first. Our Amazon guide covers the whole account.

Apple Music and YouTube Music. These are billed through the Apple ID or the Google account, and stop when those accounts are closed. The next section explains.

Amazon Prime

With the login, open Your Account, choose Prime, then End membership. If no Prime benefits have been used since the last payment, Amazon usually refunds that payment in full, and it will often refund part of a yearly payment on request. Without the login, contact Amazon customer service by chat or phone. Amazon can end the membership and close the account once it has seen a copy of the death certificate.

App Store, Google Play and Microsoft

Anything billed through the Apple App Store is tied to the Apple ID, anything through Google Play to the Google account, and anything through Microsoft to the Microsoft account. That gives you two routes.

The quick route needs the unlocked device: the Subscriptions screen on an iPhone, the Payments and subscriptions screen in the Play Store, or the Services and subscriptions page at account.microsoft.com. Cancel each one.

The complete route is to close the account itself, which ends every subscription attached to it. Our guides explain how for Apple, Google and Microsoft, including what to save first, because closing an account deletes the photos and files inside it.

Storage, Software and Everything Else

Cloud storage (iCloud, Google One, Dropbox, OneDrive) is the one category where stopping the payment can destroy something. When storage lapses, the service may delete the files after a grace period. Download the photos and documents you want before you cancel, or keep paying until you have.

Domain names and website hosting lapse when the renewal fails, and the website goes offline. If the person ran a business or a blog the family wants to keep, renew it now and decide later.

Direct Debits for newspapers, charities, magazines and clubs stop when the bank freezes the account. It is still kind to tell a charity the person supported, because it will otherwise write to them for years.

A Word on Contracts

Contracts have a minimum term and a bill that keeps building. Mobile phones, broadband, energy, water, insurance, gym memberships and vehicle finance all need a proper cancellation in writing, usually with a copy of the death certificate. Nearly all of them end a contract without a penalty on death. Keep the mobile number active until you have finished with anything that sends security codes to it, and read our WhatsApp guide before cancelling the phone, because the number will be given to a stranger later.

If You Are in the UK

The government's Tell Us Once service tells the pension, tax, passport and driving licence offices about a death, but not companies. Free death notification services such as Settld and Life Ledger will tell many banks, utilities and insurers at once, which saves a great deal of letter writing, although subscription services are not always on their lists. Our checklist of digital accounts gives you one page to work through.

Or Let Us Handle All of It

Departed Digital manages the whole process for families: subscriptions, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, PayPal and any other account, in one case. You send the documents once, we run every request and chase every silence until each account is closed or memorialised, and you receive a written record of everything for the family and the estate.

Packages start from £149, checkout shows your local currency automatically, and we work with families in the UK and internationally.