Managing Online Accounts and Digital Legacy

List phones, computers, tablets, external drives, email addresses, cloud accounts, social profiles, photo libraries, domains, subscriptions, financial services, shopping accounts, rewards programs, and devices that control the home. Note the provider, account identifier, billing source, renewal date, and why the account matters.

Do not place passwords in an ordinary spreadsheet or email. A secure password manager, sealed record, or other carefully controlled method may be more appropriate. Identify which accounts contain irreplaceable photographs, documents, messages, or business records.

The person handling funeral arrangements may not be the person legally authorized to manage the estate or digital accounts. Review the will, court appointment, provider terms, and applicable law. Some platforms accept requests only from an executor, administrator, immediate relative, or previously named legacy contact.

Do not sign in as the person who died simply because a password is available. Unauthorized access can violate provider terms, privacy rules, or law and may alter evidence, messages, or account security.

Keep phones, computers, identification, mail, keys, and storage devices in a secure place. Do not discard or reset a device until photographs, documents, account access, two-factor authentication, and estate needs have been reviewed. Record the device model, serial number, phone number, and carrier when available.

Forward or secure physical mail, monitor financial statements, and consider a credit-file or identity-theft discussion with the estate’s qualified advisers. Be alert for messages requesting payment, passwords, verification codes, or remote access.

Before closing an email, cloud, or social account, determine whether family photographs, videos, documents, contacts, calendars, tax records, creative work, or business files need to be preserved. Follow the platform’s export or authorized-access process. Keep at least two copies in separate secure locations and document who holds them.

Apple allows a person to name one or more Legacy Contacts. After death, a Legacy Contact generally needs the access key and a death certificate to request access. Certain purchased media and Keychain data are excluded, and approved access is limited in time.

Use Apple’s current instructions rather than attempting to bypass Activation Lock or account security: How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple Account.

Google’s Inactive Account Manager lets a user choose when an account is considered inactive, identify trusted contacts, select which data may be shared, and decide whether the account should later be deleted. For someone who died without a plan, Google has a separate request process for immediate family members and representatives.

• About Inactive Account Manager
• Submit a request regarding a deceased user’s account

Do not close the account before requesting needed content; Google warns that closure can prevent a later content request.

Facebook can memorialize a profile and allows a user to name a Legacy Contact. A memorialized account cannot be logged into, and the Legacy Contact’s permissions are limited. Instagram also accepts requests to memorialize an account and permits verified immediate family members to request removal.

• Facebook: About Memorialized Accounts
• Instagram: Report a deceased person’s account

Preserve needed content and understand the difference between memorialization and removal before submitting a request.

Email may be the key to password resets, receipts, contacts, and two-factor authentication. Cloud storage may contain photographs, documents, and shared folders. Streaming, news, software, delivery, storage, fitness, and membership subscriptions may renew automatically.

Record which services charge a card or bank account, but do not rush to cancel everything. A subscription may provide temporary access to files, backups, invoices, or an account history needed by the estate. Once preserved and authorized, cancel unnecessary renewals and keep confirmation numbers.

Use verified provider channels and the authority of the estate representative. Do not transfer funds, redeem rewards, return purchases, or change ownership based only on possession of a password. Preserve statements and transaction history, then follow the provider’s deceased-customer or estate process.

Create a record with the account name, action requested, date, documents sent, confirmation number, result, retained files, and follow-up date. Note whether the account was preserved, memorialized, transferred, closed, or left open temporarily. Store the log with the estate records.

• It contains photographs, email, documents, or messages the family is authorized to preserve.
• It receives password resets or two-factor codes for other services.
• Statements, tax records, refunds, subscriptions, or business data remain unresolved.
• The estate representative or attorney has not reviewed the account.
• The platform’s deletion is permanent or prevents a later data request.