If a parent’s mailbox fills with “You’ve won!” letters, federal law gives your family a lever: a sweepstakes mailer has to take a name off its list within 60 days of a removal request.
The quick answer
- Talk with your parent first and decide together which mailers to stop. Some mail they may want to keep.
- Find the removal notice. Every sweepstakes mailing has to show an address or toll-free number for removal requests. Write to the address.
- Send a short letter from your parent, or from you if you hold their power of attorney or are their guardian or conservator. Copy the name and address exactly as printed on the label.
- Keep a copy and note the date. The mailer has 60 calendar days.
- For donation appeals, ask each charity to remove the name and not to rent, sell or trade it.
A letter you can copy
To: [the address in the mailer’s removal notice]
Please remove the name and address below from every list you use for sweepstakes mailings, within 60 days, as provided by 39 U.S.C. § 3017(d).
Name: [exactly as printed on the mailing label]
Address: [exactly as printed on the mailing label]
[If you’re writing for your parent: I hold power of attorney for the person named above and make this request on their behalf.]
[Signature] · [Date]
It’s a plain removal request, not legal advice.
What to expect
- Mailings already printed may keep arriving for a few weeks.
- The 60-day rule covers each company you write to. A new sweepstakes company that gets the name later needs its own letter.
- Real sweepstakes never ask for money. “You can’t win a contest you didn’t enter,” says the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. A fee to collect a prize, or a check to deposit and send money back from, is a scam sign. Report it at uspis.gov.
Donation appeals work differently
No federal rule covers charity mail. Ask each charity, on its website or by letter, to remove your parent’s name and not to rent, sell or trade it, and keep the appeal so you have the exact name and address it used. For causes your parent supports, ask how often they’ll write instead.
One sign-up for many companies
Caretakers can register someone in their care on DMAchoice’s caretaker list, which member companies use to stop marketing mail. Expect a drop within about three months; only participating companies honor it. Our guide for families covers the rest.
Good to know
- Your parent stays in charge: stop only what they agree to.
- Informed Delivery, the free USPS preview of incoming mail, needs your parent’s own ID check. They can forward the daily email to you.
Sources
- 39 U.S.C. § 3017: removal within 60 days; requests from a conservator, guardian or power-of-attorney holder; removal notice on each mailing.
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service, sweepstakes and foreign lottery scams.
- Charity Navigator, manage your mailbox.
- DMAchoice FAQ and FTC, How to stop junk mail. Last checked October 31, 2026.
Or let us keep an eye on it: Mom’s Mailbox
Your parent forwards their free Informed Delivery preview. Each morning we email you only when something matters, and flag prize-style letters before anyone sends money. With their written OK, we stop the junk you both approve. They can end the service with one email.
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Mailbox Zero is independent and not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service. Informed Delivery is a free service of the U.S. Postal Service. Flags are a heads-up, not a fraud guarantee, and this page is general information, not legal advice.
