Utilities & Maintenance

Utilities and maintenance are additional considerations - similar to safety and security - after the death of a loved one. Whether or not someone continues to live in the dwelling,  necessities like electricity, oil, water, sewage, etc. need to be continued until such time as the home is no longer the legal jurisdiction of the deceased or their estate. 

It is most helpful if the deceased provided a pre-death planning document. We encourage everyone to consider such a document, similar to our planning document "When I Leave You" .

All utilities will need to be listed in this document, including:

• Utility Name
• Account Number
• Username & Password for online access (including any security question answers for the online account)
• Information on how the utility bills are paid - by automatic debit from a checking      account? By credit card (automatically?)? By check?

There may be many more depending on the individual and the location, but the type of utilities will include at least the following:

• Monthly maintenance or Homeowner’s Association (HOA) fees
• Electricity or "hydro", as it is called in Canada
• Gas
• Oil (used for heating in the northern U.S.)
• Water
• Sewage
• Garbage Collections (sometimes included in property taxes, sometimes billed      separately)
• Recycling (sometimes included in garbage collection and sometimes separate)
• Telephone/land line
• Telephone/mobile (Hot Spot? Tablets? Other Mobile/Internet Devices?)
• Cable Television Access
• Alarm System(s)

Again, depending on the timing and what is needed to clear the dwelling, some of these may be cancelled at the death of your loved one - telephone, mobile, and cable for example.

However, heating/cooling systems, alarm systems, and electric are best retained until such time that no one is visiting or working in the house (like home and liability insurance as well).