Cancelling or Transferring a Deceased Relative's Mobile Line in 2026: The Exact Procedure

Introduction: a direct debit that lands on the 5th of the month

Three weeks after the funeral, the bank statement for your mother's account shows a €24.99 debit. The mobile plan. For the phone still sitting in the bedside table drawer, switched off ever since. You call the operator: thirty minutes on hold, then an adviser explains that you need to "send a letter", that he can't "do anything over the phone", and that in any case you aren't the account holder.

Hundreds of thousands of French families go through this scene every year. Around 660,000 deaths are recorded annually in France according to Insee, and behind each one lies at least one mobile line, often a broadband box, sometimes a bundled subscription. Nobody prepares for this. Nobody knows that the law sets out precisely how this situation is handled.

This guide covers the whole subject: free cancellation as guaranteed by the French postal and electronic communications code, the case where you would rather keep the number within the family, recovering the data held on the phone, and the mistakes that prove costly — the most common being to stop the bank card payment before cancelling the contract.

What French law says in 2026

The reference text is article L. 224-39 of the French Consumer Code, supplemented by the provisions of the postal and electronic communications code. It sets out two distinct rights, and it is essential not to confuse them.

Right no. 1 — Cancellation without penalty

If the account holder dies, the electronic communications contract may be cancelled with no fees or termination penalty, even if the line was still within a 12- or 24-month commitment period. This is an express exception to the usual contractual principle.

In practical terms, this means the operator cannot claim:

• the monthly payments remaining on the commitment;
• the notorious "termination fees" or "account closure fees" — a sensitive point since some operators extended them to no-commitment plans in 2026;
• a balancing payment linked to a subsidised handset, unless the phone was covered by a separate credit agreement (see below, that's the real trap).

Right no. 2 — A strict billing deadline

Cancellation takes effect within 10 days at the latest from receipt of the request. Any amounts debited beyond that must be refunded within 30 days.

Note the date of receipt, not the date of posting. That is what starts the clock, and it is why registered post with acknowledgement of receipt remains the safest format, even in 2026.

Right no. 3 — Suspension, often forgotten

Many families don't want to cancel straight away: contacts need to be informed, you have to check which services used that number as a second authentication factor, and messages need to be retrieved. Most operators will agree to a temporary line suspension (usually up to 6 months, sometimes free for the first two months). Ask for it explicitly if you need time: it freezes data/voice billing without deleting the number.

Putting the file together: the exact documents

There's no point in going back and forth. A complete file first time round is processed in one to two weeks; an incomplete one can drag on for two months.

Document	Mandatory	Details
Death certificate	Yes	Full copy, issued free of charge by the town hall of the place of death or of the last residence. Ask for 8 to 10 copies straight away: banks, insurers, health insurance schemes, operators.
Line number and customer number	Yes	Shown on the last invoice. Failing that, the phone number is often enough.
Applicant's ID	Yes	Both sides.
Proof of status as an heir	Often	Family record book, deed of notoriety drawn up by a notary, or a statement signed by the heirs.
Bank details for refund of overpayments	Recommended	Those of the estate if an account has been opened, otherwise those of the applicant with the agreement of the co-heirs.
Written request, dated and signed	Yes	States the desired effective date.

One very practical tip: these formalities generate dozens more. A ring binder with dividers dedicated to the estate, in which you file every acknowledgement of receipt, prevents disputes between heirs six months later, when nobody remembers who sent what. Practical estate-settlement guides sold in bookshops, updated every year, also contain reusable letter templates for the bank, the health insurer and the operator.

The standard cancellation letter

Here is a proven template to adapt. Send it by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt to the address of the cancellation department shown on the invoice (not to the head office, which forwards it with delay).

Subject: Cancellation following the death of the account holder — line 06 XX XX XX XX

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hereby inform you of the death of [Surname First name], which occurred on [date], holder of mobile line no. 06 XX XX XX XX (customer reference no. XXXXXX).

In accordance with article L. 224-39 of the French Consumer Code, I ask you to cancel this contract with no fees or penalty, including in respect of any ongoing commitment, taking effect no later than ten days after receipt of this letter.

Please find enclosed a copy of the death certificate, my ID and [proof of status as an heir].

I would be grateful if you would send me written confirmation of the cancellation, together with the final account balance. Where applicable, any amounts wrongly debited should be refunded to the account whose bank details are enclosed.

Yours faithfully.

Keep a scanned copy of everything. A portable scanner with automatic document feeder saves a considerable amount of time when the same documents have to go out to twelve different organisations.

Trap no. 1: the subsidised handset and the linked credit agreement

This is the point on which families are most often caught out.

When a high-end smartphone was "given away" with a plan, two arrangements coexist in France:

• The classic contractual subsidy. The price of the handset is spread across the subscription. In the event of death, free cancellation applies: nothing is owed.
• The linked consumer credit agreement. The operator goes through a partner finance company, and the buyer signed a separate credit agreement. That contract does not end with the death: the debt becomes part of the estate's liabilities.

In the second case, immediately check whether there is death and disability insurance attached to the credit. It is common and often overlooked: a simple letter to the lender, backed by the death certificate, can clear the outstanding balance. If the estate is in deficit, the heirs may also renounce it or accept it up to the net asset value — a decision to be taken with the notary, never alone.

Trap no. 2: cutting off the line too quickly

In 2026, a mobile number is no longer just a way of being called. It is an authentication key. Before cancelling, take stock of what still depends on that number:

• bank accounts and transfer validation by text message;
• tax and government accounts (impots.gouv.fr, Ameli, France Connect);
• email services, photo storage accounts, social networks;
• recurring subscriptions paid by direct debit.

Once the line is cancelled, the number is "quarantined" for several months by the operator, then reassigned to a new customer. All the verification codes intended for the deceased will then reach a stranger. It is a genuine risk of estate fraud, regularly flagged by the CNIL in its recommendations on the data of deceased persons.

The correct order is therefore: suspend → move authentications elsewhere → recover the data → cancel.