Agree on what a helper may do with advertising mail
Agree on the specific help the recipient wants before making a mail request. Permission to sort a pile may cover reading sender names but leave decisions about catalogs with the recipient. Write down the allowed tasks so both people can use the same plan.
Make the agreement concrete
- Ask which mail the person wants to keep. Include catalogs they enjoy and charity updates they choose to receive, even if you would make a different choice.
- Separate the possible tasks: sorting ordinary advertisements, reading a label, preparing a request and contacting a sender. Ask about each task you expect to perform.
- Choose where replies should go. The recipient may prefer to receive confirmations themselves or review them together before anyone follows up.
- Set a boundary for unfamiliar letters. Financial, clinical, legal and benefit correspondence should go to the recipient or the appropriately authorized person for review.
- Review the arrangement when the helper or the recipient’s preferences change. Keep an unfinished request list so the next person does not assume a task was completed.
A private worksheet has limited scope
The worksheet below records preferences between the recipient and helper. A company may have its own requirements before discussing an account with anyone else. Use its published process when it asks for authorization; do not assume a family relationship or this worksheet grants account access.
The FTC also links an ANA mailing preference option for dependents in a caretaker’s care. Read that program’s current instructions before using it. Its purpose is marketing preferences, and it does not confer authority over someone’s other affairs.
Private mail-help worksheet
Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.
Leave the recipient a clear record
Give the person a copy of the agreed list and note any sender you actually contacted. Keep it private. You can prepare a draft together and leave submission with the recipient if that is the level of help they want.
Official source
Keep personal records with the organization that handles them
Junk Mail Magic is for ordinary unwanted advertising. Use the official contact route in this guide for records, account changes or someone else’s correspondence.
Compare removal routes