How to Forward a Parent's Mail During a Hospital or Rehab Stay

To forward a parent's mail during a hospital or rehab stay, file a USPS temporary change of address with a start and end date, sending the mail to whoever is paying the bills. Your parent can file it online from a phone. If you file it for them, USPS requires an in-person visit to a Post Office with your ID and proof you're authorized, such as their power of attorney. For a stay of 30 days or less, USPS Hold Mail is simpler, and either way, bank statements and new cards often won't forward.

This is the temporary version, for a parent who should be home in a few weeks. For a permanent move, see the moving-in checklist. If it's day one and you're still in the ER waiting room, start with what to do when an elderly parent is hospitalized.

First, guess the length of the stay

Nobody knows exactly, but a rough guess picks the right tool.

A hospital stay can turn into skilled nursing rehab (see our guide to the 3-day rule for rehab). If rehab is likely, set up forwarding now. Ending it early is easier than starting it late.

USPS Hold Mail, for stays up to 30 days

Hold Mail keeps all mail for the address at the local Post Office for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days. The Postal Service's rulebook, the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), says there is no fee.

You're allowed to set it up for your parent. The DMM says an authorized agent "may schedule, change, or cancel" a Hold Mail request "as long as the customer can provide the agent with all the information required to complete the request." In practice, your parent says yes and gives you the details.

The DMM lists three ways to ask:

1. Online at USPS.com, which requires signing in to (or creating) a USPS.com account to verify identity. USPS doesn't spell out how this works for an agent, so if your parent already has an account, that's the simplest route; otherwise use paper or phone.
2. On paper, with PS Form 8076, Authorization to Hold Mail, handed in at the Post Office, given to the carrier or mailed in.
3. By phone at 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777).

Online and phone requests come with a confirmation number. Keep it: without it, changes usually mean a trip to the Post Office with ID.

Two cautions. The DMM says the customer picking up held mail must show acceptable identification, and it doesn't say whether someone else can collect it, so ask the Post Office ahead of time. And the mail has to be collected within 10 days of the hold's end date, or the DMM says it "will be returned to the sender or securely destructed."

USPS temporary forwarding: who can file it

USPS offers temporary forwarding for people relocating for 15 days up to 1 year, "like going to school or staying with family or friends." A rehab stay fits. The DMM adds a detail the main page doesn't: the first temporary order runs 15 to 185 days, and you extend it, up to 364 days, by filing a second order that starts on day 186. Every temporary order needs a start date and an end date.

If your parent can do it themselves

This is the easiest route, and it works from a hospital bed. Per the USPS change of address page, the online steps are: choose an individual move, verify identity with a code or link sent to a mobile phone, and pay the identity verification fee by credit card. The card's billing address must match the old address or the new one, so your parent's own card works.

You can hold the phone and read the screen aloud, but your parent should enter and approve it.

USPS then emails a confirmation code, which you'll need to change or cancel the request. It also mails a Move Validation letter to the old address. Allow at least 7 to 10 business days after approval for forwarding to begin.

If you're filing it for them

A request for someone else has to be made in person at a Post Office, with acceptable ID and, for "a person who is unable to act for themselves," a power of attorney. The DMM says individuals may not file for someone else without authorization showing they're an authorized agent, and it gives a notarized letter as an example. So:

• Your parent can decide but can't get to the Post Office. A signed, notarized letter naming you as their agent for this request may work. Call the Post Office first and ask what they'll accept, and ask the hospital social worker whether a notary can come to the room.
• Your parent can't act for themselves right now. Bring the original power of attorney and your ID, and ask whether they'll want a copy.
• There's no power of attorney and your parent can't sign one. Forwarding is probably out for now. Collect the mail by hand and read our guide to when a parent has no power of attorney.

Don't file online in your parent's name from your own phone and card. USPS says a request for someone else must be made in person.

The mail that won't forward

Forwarding starts, and the bank statement still never shows up.

USPS says that for security, government agencies and financial institutions don't allow forwarding of sensitive documents, including "credit cards, bank statements, insurance info, and other financial or medical information." Its advice is to contact those senders directly. (Marketing mail isn't forwarded unless the sender pays, so you also lose the catalogs. A small mercy.)

So for the bank, card companies, insurers and pharmacy, go to the source:

• Have your parent turn on paperless statements or account alerts, with a copy to you where the bank offers it. Our guide to organizing an elderly parent's bills covers alerts and view-only access.
• If a new or replacement card might arrive while they're away, ask the bank to hold it.
• Ask the hospital and rehab billing offices which address they're using, and write it down.

Informed Delivery: seeing the mail before it arrives

Informed Delivery is a free USPS service that emails preview images of incoming mail each morning. The previews are grayscale photos of the address side. USPS says images cover only letter-sized mail run through its automated equipment, and nothing comes on Sundays or federal holidays.

It's a quiet way to spot the county tax envelope before it vanishes into a hold bin, and the Hold Mail page notes that once enrolled in Informed Delivery, you can hold mail and see previews from the same account.

The catch: the account belongs to the person at the address, and USPS verifies their identity at sign-up. So your parent enrolls, ideally before anything goes wrong. Notifications typically start within 3 business days. USPS also says the mailbox must be "uniquely coded," which some apartments and condos aren't.

The bills that can't wait

Most mail can sit a few weeks. A handful of bills can't, so sort the first batch into two piles: due in the next 30 days, and everything else.

A word on medical mail. The Medicare Summary Notice for Original Medicare is not a bill, and it comes every 6 months when your parent has had services. Hospital, doctor and rehab bills arrive separately and often later. Compare before paying.

Autopay and bill pay, with your parent's permission

The cleanest fix for a long stay is to take the mail out of bill paying. Sit with your parent, bedside if need be, and set up automatic payments for the fixed bills, with them approving each one.

• Medicare premiums. Medicare Easy Pay is a free service that deducts the premium from checking or savings each month. Sign up in their Medicare account under "My Premiums," or mail Form SF-5510. Medicare says most people have the Part B premium taken from their Social Security benefit, so check first.
• The bank's online bill pay, from your parent's own account. Some banks charge for it.
• Autopay with each company, best for steady amounts rather than the winter heating bill.

None of this is permanent. The CFPB explains that your parent can stop automatic payments by telling the company and the bank, though canceling autopay doesn't cancel what's owed.

If you're the agent under a power of attorney and doing the paying, the CFPB's guide for agents lists the duties: pay bills and taxes on time, keep your parent's money separate from yours, pay their expenses from their funds, keep good records, and sign as agent. Social Security and VA benefits need their own appointment, the guide notes. Our guide to being an authorized representative sorts out those separate permissions.

Do you need to tell Social Security or Medicare?

Usually not, for a short stay. Two exceptions:

If your parent gets SSI (Supplemental Security Income, the needs-based program), Social Security lists admission to or discharge from a hospital or nursing home as a change to report, no later than 10 days after the end of that month. It warns that unreported changes can lead to overpayments that have to be paid back. Call 1-800-772-1213.

If the stay is long and agency mail matters, a new mailing address is among the changes Social Security asks people to report, and Medicare's official address is changed through Social Security. For a few weeks of rehab with benefits on direct deposit, it may be able to wait; if you're unsure, ask Social Security. Our article on Social Security for an elderly parent covers reaching the agency.

Protecting the mailbox at an empty house

A stuffed mailbox tells the street nobody's home.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service's mail theft tips are short: don't leave letters and packages in the mailbox for any length of time, use Hold Mail if no one can be there, and if an expected check or card doesn't arrive, contact the sender. The FTC adds a warning sign: if a bill stops arriving, someone may have changed the billing address.

• Pick one person to empty the box every day or two until Hold Mail or forwarding starts. A neighbor counts.
• Watch for USPS letters you didn't expect. Since USPS mails a validation letter to the old address after a change of address, a letter about a move nobody asked for is a red flag. Call the Post Office.
• Report theft to USPIS online or at 1-877-876-2455. If it turns into identity theft, report it to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov.

And skip the lookalike sites: USA.gov warns that scammers charge to file a change of address you can do yourself on USPS.com.

When your parent comes home

Use the forwarding confirmation code to move the end date up, or let the order expire. If mail is on hold, choose carrier delivery on the end date or pickup within 10 days. Then go through the forwarded pile together, since it's their mail, and check which autopays they want to keep. Our hospital discharge checklist covers the rest of the trip home.

Frequently asked questions

Can I forward my mom's mail to my address?

Yes, with authority. She can file online herself; if you file for her, it's in person at a Post Office with your ID and proof you're her authorized agent.

How long can USPS hold mail?

From 3 to 30 days. For longer, USPS points people to forwarding.

Does a power of attorney let me forward my parent's mail?

USPS lists a power of attorney as the document for "a person who is unable to act for themselves." File in person at a Post Office, and call ahead to confirm what that location wants to see.

Why didn't my parent's bank statement get forwarded?

Banks and government agencies generally don't allow forwarding of sensitive mail. Contact the bank to change delivery or go paperless.

A page for the binder

Easier to set up while your parent is home and well. Write down:

• Whether a financial power of attorney exists, who the agent is and where the original is kept
• Whether they have a USPS.com account and Informed Delivery, and where the password is kept (never the password itself)
• Their local Post Office address and hours
• Who can empty the mailbox on short notice, with a phone number
• Which bills are on autopay and which still come by mail
• Bills paid once or twice a year, and the months they're due
• How Medicare premiums are paid
• Whether they get SSI or regular Social Security
• Banks and card companies, with the number on the back of each card
• A blank line for the forwarding or Hold Mail confirmation number

You can build this page yourself from the list above. Or Emergency Binder Now can do the organizing: about 25 minutes of guided questions produces a printable binder with a money and bills section, "does it exist and where is it" pages for the legal documents, and a list of the gaps to close next. You can see a sample binder first. Either way, the next time someone asks "what about the mail?", the answer is already on paper.