Q&A for How to Address an Envelope in Care of Someone Else

Writing "c/o Canada Post" might be a bit redundant, since Canada Post is already handling the letter. Instead, you might simply write the person's name again in the "c/o" field.

In this case, you can address the letter to one of them, and place the other in the "c/o" line. Or, you can simply address it to "John and Mary Smith," substituting "Smith" for the last name of whoever's name you wrote first.

In that case, address the letter like this: [Friend's Name] c/o [Friend's Employer] [Address of friend's employer]

It's not strictly necessary, but it may help the letter get delivered to the most accurate residence, and it can't hurt!

Exactly! It'd look something like this: Lady Gaga c/o [Lady Gaga's Manager] [Street address of manager's office]

Reading or opening someone else's mail is called "mail theft," and is punishable for up to five years in prison. It's a federal crime, at least in the US. Tampering or stealing someone's personal belongings (e.g. mail) would be a crime anywhere. The "care of" doesn't give that person any special mail opening privileges, it simply means they are responsible for getting the mail to the specific person because it's not their normal address.

That may work, but it's better to write "c/o."

When addressing a person in a business it is not a c/o. It would be Jane Smith: Director of Fun, ABC Co., address.

Write your return address at the top left corner of the envelope so the post office can return it to you if they're unable to deliver it.

Lower case! In the 1950's this is what we were taught but we also used carbon paper and fountain pens.

Write c/o to indicate "care of" on the second line of the address, after the name of the person the letter is addressed to.

C/o, or CO, means "care of" and it's used on a letter to indicate that the envelope is being delivered to someone at an address where they don't normally receive their mail.

Yes, c/o precedes someone's name as it would be written if the letter were being sent to them. The title is optional and depends the context of addressing them.

Not necessarily; it is used also in Germany, for example, but not in France (replaced by "chez"). While different countries have different methods of addressing envelopes in care of someone else, though, the format is similar enough that your intent will likely be understood.

If you are sending something to a specific person who does not ordinarily receive mail at that address, you can clarify your intentions by naming the intended recipient on the top line, followed on the second line by "c/o" and the name of the person(s) or business that usually receives mail at that address. The address itself goes on the third and fourth lines.

The number of lines is not critical. The bottom line should contain the city and state or province, and the line above that should contain the street address or PO box number. Above that, you can have one or two lines for names of people or business names. For international mail, there should be another line below everything else for the country name.

It should be fine, but keep in mind that Serbian postal employees need to understand what "c/o" means since it's an English term. It might be easier to understand if you write out "care of" instead.

Yes, generally someone else can pick up mail for you. If it's at a post office service counter, they might need signed written permission from you.