Call the deceased person's bank to cancel all credit cards in their name and that's taken care of.

Doesn't work for all services. Some services will, if unable to charge the card,send whatever amount to collections, and now they have to deal with that.

Debt collectors are persistent, but hey at least if they follow me to Hell maybe they can take a tour, check out apartments for their stay.

Or pester your widow(er)

You'd think it's that easy. Some places literally are unable to do anything unless you're some sort of "signatory" or the actual account holder. No amount of if, buts, maybes, and certified/stamped copies of death certificates will convince them.

I couldn't even cancel the health insurance company's recurring payments after a death. And they had the audacity to send a "how was your hospital stay" questionnaire to the account holder's email after they were "discharged" by the hospital.

> And they had the audacity to send a "how was your hospital stay" questionnaire to the account holder's email after they were "discharged" by the hospital.

That feels like an email that deserves an honest response:)

Your reply shows that you've never had to do this yourself. It's a lot more complicated than that.