I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to have my wife's name removed from the account. she died last year and thought it would be no problem...boy was I wrong. they want a death certificate or all the info on it before they will do anything. they want SS numbers also. this is way out of line. nothing is changing as far as payment is concerned. I also wanted to add my daughters name so she could handle any problems that might happen. but they want her SS too. I have had dish for 20yrs they are going to loose me over this. I started a new 2 yr commitment last year it just might be worth canceling.everything on Dish i can get streaming now. Used to tell everybody how great they were..NOT anymore.....Really disappointed.....
DISH is a big boy and can answer for itself, so I'm not defending them. However, I certainly can understand their precautionary steps. People everyday get divorced, have pissing matches, etc. and try to do underhanded things to their spouse or ex. DISH is just guarding against someone coming back later and saying they didn't authorize such an account change, etc. I know what it's like to lose a spouse, so I certainly can sympathize with you about all the hassle.
With regard to SS number, this has gotten completely out of hand in this country. The SS Administration says "don't give it out to anyone", yet you can't get anything done nowadays without it. From medical care to insurance and beyond, they all want your SS#. If you question them about why they need it, they treat you like a trouble maker.
I ran into the same type thing when I moved out of my house and my son moved in. He just took over my cable account. Time Warner put us through hoops. It would have been easier if I had just gone down and turned in the equipment and let him start over with a new account.