Start with Venmo Support, not the login
Venmo says it can't give access to an account, or transfer ownership of it, to anyone other than the original account holder. So the family's way in is a request to Venmo Support, which then says what it needs for that account.
Have two things ready: the person's full first and last name, and the email address or phone number their Venmo account is under. Venmo's page sends you to the chat in your own Venmo app (Me, Settings, Get Help, Chat With Us, then ask for an agent), and its Contact Us page lists other ways to reach it.
If the account is empty
At a minimum, Venmo asks for a copy of the death certificate. For an account with no money in it, its page lists nothing more.
If there's money or crypto in it
Then Venmo says it may also ask for:
- A valid government-issued photo ID from the person contacting it
- Proof of address, so it can send a check to that address
- Legal papers showing you're authorized to act for the estate, such as a probate court order appointing you executor, estate administrator papers, or Letters of Administration
- An IRS Form W-9 for the estate, which is on the IRS's website
So the money comes out as a check, mailed to the address you prove. Venmo's page doesn't say whose name is on the check, so ask the agent before you plan around it.
Don't email the papers. Venmo asks for them through a secure upload link that the agent gives you.
A Venmo Credit Card comes first
If the person had a Venmo Credit Card, Venmo says the card has to be closed before the Venmo account can be. The card comes from a bank, Synchrony, which has its own online form for reporting a cardholder's death. That's a second company to tell, with its own questions.
What the page leaves out
The bank account linked to Venmo. Venmo's page for a death says nothing about it. It belongs to the bank, and the bank has its own process: see our page on your bank account.
And a way to name who gets the balance. The page describes nothing you set up ahead of time.
If nobody asks
A balance nobody knows about doesn't stay with Venmo. Its help page says an account is generally presumed abandoned after three years with no login or other activity, though the period varies by state. Its User Agreement adds that after two or more years with no login, Venmo may close the account and mail the money to the holder's address or, where the law requires, send it to the state. The help page says Venmo tries to reach the account holder by email first, then sends the money to the state as unclaimed property and closes the account. After that, the family claims it from the state's unclaimed property office, not from Venmo.
What to do now
Venmo is built for passing money along, not for keeping it. Meanwhile, you can move a balance to your linked bank whenever you like, and a bank account can usually carry a payable-on-death beneficiary, which Venmo's page doesn't offer.
Then tell your executor the account exists, and which email address or phone number it's under. That's the first thing Venmo asks for.
