Originally Posted by JDiver

To AA, it's fraudulent activity as defined in the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions and American Airlines Conditions of Carriage - and those are what we agree to hew to in using and earning miles. Using a deceased person's account for award trips without having authorized access is never a good idea, and (to repeat) technically fraudulent as viewed by AA. Ask those whose accounts were frozen and acted upon by AA what power they had to contest those actions - the only answer is "none".