How to freeze your credit in 15 minutes (and for a child, a parent, or someone who has died)

Before you start

If this is for a child, for an adult you are responsible for, or for someone who has died, do the three steps for yourself first if you have not already, then jump to the section that fits at the end. The mechanics are the same; the documents are different.

If the bureau steers you toward a lock or a paid plan

Every bureau sells something next to the free freeze, and the paid thing is often the bigger button. On the phone the agent may offer it first. You do not need to argue; you need one sentence.

“I want the free security freeze under federal law, not a lock and not a paid plan. Please place the freeze.”

If you would rather do it by phone or by mail

Online is fastest, but every bureau also has an automated phone line and a mailing address. Phone freezes have the same one-business-day guarantee as online ones. Mailed requests take up to three business days after the bureau receives them, and you should send copies of one proof of identity and one proof of address with the request. Send copies, never originals.

• Equifax: 1-800-349-9960 (checked Sep 2026) · Equifax: Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 105788, Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 (checked Sep 2026)
• Experian: 1-888-397-3742 (checked Sep 2026) · Experian: Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 (checked Sep 2026)
• TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872 (checked Sep 2026) · TransUnion: TransUnion, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094 (checked Sep 2026)

The federal rules behind all of this: Freezes and lifts are free. Requested online or by phone, a freeze must be placed within one business day and lifted within one hour; by mail, within three business days of receipt. Free freezes also cover children under 16 and people you are guardian, conservator, or power of attorney for. (checked Sep 2026).

Freezing a child’s credit (under 16)

A child usually has no credit file, which is exactly why a stolen child’s Social Security number can be used for years without anyone noticing. Federal law lets a parent or guardian ask each bureau to create a file for a child under 16 and freeze it, free.

This one is done by mail at each bureau, not online. On each bureau’s site (the same three domains above), look for the page about freezing a minor’s or a “protected consumer’s” credit; each has a short form. Expect to send copies of the child’s birth certificate and Social Security card, your own government ID, and proof of your address, plus proof that you are the parent or guardian. The bureau creates the file, freezes it, and mails you confirmation. Keep that letter with the child’s other documents; the freeze stays until the child, as an adult, removes it.

Freezing credit for an adult you are responsible for

If you are someone’s guardian, conservator, or you hold a valid power of attorney for them, the same free freeze is available for that person. It works like the child version: by mail, with a copy of the document that gives you authority (the court order, or the power of attorney), the person’s identifying details, and your own ID. If you are not sure what a bureau wants, the automated lines above can transfer you to a person; ask this.

“I need to place a security freeze for a protected consumer. I hold power of attorney for them. What documents do you need, and what address do I send them to?”

When someone has died

A dead person’s credit is a target: the death is public, the paperwork takes months, and nobody is watching the mail. The protection is a deceased notice on the credit file at the bureaus, which tells lenders not to open anything new. Only a spouse or a legally authorized representative, such as the executor or the court-appointed administrator, can ask for it.

The good news: you only have to reach one bureau. When one of them adds the notice, it tells the other two. Reach all three anyway if you can; it costs three stamps.

What to send, by mail, to any of these:

• Equifax: Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 105139, Atlanta, GA 30348-5139 (checked Sep 2026)
• Experian: Experian, P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013 (checked Sep 2026)
• TransUnion: TransUnion, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016 (checked Sep 2026)

Include a certified copy of the death certificate (never the original; order extra certified copies early, you will need them everywhere), a copy of your own government ID, proof of your authority if you are the executor (the letters testamentary from the probate court), and a short letter. This is the letter.

“Please place a deceased notice on the credit file of [full name], Social Security number [number], date of birth [date], who died on [date]. Their last address was [address]. I am the [spouse / executor / administrator] of the estate; my documentation is enclosed. Please also send me a copy of their current credit report so I can identify open accounts, and confirm in writing to [your address] when the notice is in place.”

The copy of the credit report is the useful part: it is the only complete list of the accounts you now have to close, and most people do not know to ask for it.

Two more things while you are at it. The funeral home usually reports the death to the Social Security Administration, which eventually reaches the bureaus, but “eventually” is the problem, so send the letters anyway. And if the person had a freeze in place already, leave it; the notice goes on top of it.

Other places worth freezing

The three bureaus cover almost everything. There are smaller databases that some lenders, banks, and utilities check instead, and each can be frozen separately if you want to be thorough. They are named here so you can type the domains yourself: Innovis (a fourth credit bureau, innovis.com), ChexSystems (used by banks when you open an account, chexsystems.com), and NCTUE (used by phone and utility companies, nctue.com). Each has a freeze page on its own site. This is optional; the three above are the ones that matter.