October 2019

Quick Facts

• No proof of death is necessary.
• Remove all holds. Mark unreturned checkouts as lost, and clear all bills

Procedure

1. Mark all items in their checkouts as lost. See Lost or billed items.
2. Remove any holds.
3. Clear all bills:
   1. $49.99 or less -- any staff person may waive the charges.
   2. More than $50.00 -- email the User key to the Contact Center at help@multcolib.org and they will waive the charges. 
4. Follow the instructions for Deleting patron accounts.
5. If the library card was returned to the library, cut it up and discard it.

Policy

When the library receives information that a patron is deceased, all charges and/or material checked out to that patron are marked as lost and cleared from the account. Proof that an individual is deceased is not required. If family members or a representative of the estate return material, express our appreciation and waive all remaining charges. Deceased patron records, except for those with any record of charges paid, charges waived or collections, are deleted immediately. See Waiving charges.

Rationale

The library does not want to cause further distress to the family or estate of a deceased individual by sending overdue, hold and/or collection notices. Records of deceased patrons who have charges or have been sent to collections, currently or in the recent past, are not deleted immediately as this information may be needed by the deceased's estate.