Free guide · 10 services
What happens to your accounts when you die (and what to set up today)
For each service: what your family can and can't do, the legacy setting if one exists, and the single thing worth doing today. Mark your progress as you go.
Ten services at a glance
Services fall into four groups: those with a legacy setting you can switch on today, those that only accept requests from family, those handled through the estate, and those with no recovery route at all.
Your plan
Mark each service as you go. Your choices are saved in this browser only.
0 / 100 set up · 10 to do · 0 not used
Google
Legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- Family can ask Google to close the account or, in some cases, release certain data, but requests are reviewed case by case and nothing is guaranteed. Google may also delete personal accounts that stay inactive for a long period, currently two years under its policy.
- Legacy option · Inactive Account Manager
- Inactive Account Manager: pick a waiting period of inactivity, up to 10 trusted contacts, the data each one may download, and whether the account is then deleted.
Do todayVisit myaccount.google.com/inactive and add at least one trusted contact.
Full guide: GoogleApple / iCloud
Legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- Without a Legacy Contact, family generally needs a court order to access iCloud data, though they can ask Apple to delete the account. Device passcodes are designed not to be bypassed.
- Legacy option · Legacy Contact
- Legacy Contact: add up to five people, each with an access key. With that key and a death certificate they can request your photos, files, messages and backups. Keychain passwords, purchased media and payment details are not included.
Do todayOpen Settings, tap your name, then Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact, and add one person.
Full guide: Apple / iCloudFacebook
Legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- Friends or family can ask Facebook to memorialise the profile, and immediate family can ask for it to be removed, with proof of death.
- Legacy option · Legacy contact
- Legacy contact: someone who can look after your memorialised profile, such as writing a pinned tribute post or changing the profile photo. They cannot log in or read your messages. Or choose permanent deletion instead.
Do todaySearch for 'Memorialization' in Facebook's settings and choose a legacy contact or deletion.
Full guide: FacebookInstagram
Request only- If nothing is set up
- Anyone can report a death and ask for the account to be memorialised. Verified immediate family can ask for it to be removed.
- Legacy option · Request only
- No legacy contact. A memorialised account is frozen as it is, and nobody can log in to it.
Do todayTell someone close to you, in writing, whether you would like your Instagram memorialised or removed.
Full guide: InstagramMicrosoft / Outlook
No legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- Microsoft generally will not provide access or passwords, and releasing content usually requires valid legal process. Accounts left inactive are eventually closed and their content deleted.
- Legacy option · No legacy feature
- None. Access depends on someone having your sign-in details, or on legal process.
Do todayStore your Microsoft login in a password manager with emergency access, and name who should get it.
Full guide: Microsoft / OutlookX (Twitter)
Request only- If nothing is set up
- A verified family member or someone authorised to act for the estate can request deactivation with documentation.
- Legacy option · Request only
- No legacy contact and no memorialisation. X does not give anyone access to the account.
Do todayWrite down your username and whether you want it deactivated, and leave it with your executor.
Full guide: X (Twitter)LinkedIn
Request only- If nothing is set up
- Anyone can report that a member has died. An authorised person or family member can ask for the profile to be memorialised or closed.
- Legacy option · Request only
- No legacy contact.
Do todayAdd LinkedIn to your account list with a line on whether you want it memorialised or closed.
Full guide: LinkedInPayPal
Estate process- If nothing is set up
- The executor contacts PayPal with proof of death, ID and authority documents. After verification the account is closed and any balance paid to the estate.
- Legacy option · Estate process
- None. It is handled as part of the estate.
Do todayList PayPal in your account inventory so the balance and linked cards aren't forgotten.
Full guide: PayPalPassword managers
Legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- Without a recovery plan, a password manager vault is effectively sealed. That is the point of strong encryption, and also the risk.
- Legacy option · Emergency access (varies)
- Some managers, such as Bitwarden and LastPass, offer emergency access with a waiting period you set. 1Password relies on its Emergency Kit and family or account recovery.
Do todayTurn on emergency access, or put your recovery kit somewhere your executor will find it.
Full guide: Password managersCrypto wallets
No legacy setting- If nothing is set up
- If no one has the seed phrase or keys for a self-custody wallet, the funds are effectively lost. Exchanges usually release funds to an estate with documentation.
- Legacy option · No recovery
- None for self-custody wallets. Exchanges usually have a deceased-user process for estates.
Do todayWrite down where your recovery phrase is kept, never the phrase itself in plain email, and who should be told.
Full guide: Crypto wallets
Policies change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm on each service's own help pages.
Why accounts don't simply pass to family
Most terms of service say your account is personal and non-transferable. Even a spouse or executor usually cannot sign in, and doing so with your password can breach the service's terms and, in some places, the law.
In the US, many states follow the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). Broadly, it gives priority to the instructions you give in a service's own online tool, then to your will or other estate documents, and only then to the service's terms. In the UK and EU, rules vary and services mostly apply their own processes.
The practical lesson is the same everywhere: use the legacy settings that exist, and leave a written list of your accounts and wishes for your executor.
How to make a plan for your accounts
An afternoon is enough to cover the accounts that matter most.
List your accounts
Start with email, phone and cloud storage, then money, social media and subscriptions.
Switch on legacy settings
Set up Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Legacy Contact and a Facebook legacy contact if you use those services.
Record your wishes
For each social account, decide whether you want it memorialised, deleted or left as it is, and write it down.
Plan access to passwords
Turn on emergency access in your password manager or leave its recovery kit where your executor will find it.
Tell one person
Share where the list is kept with your executor, or leave it as a sealed note to be delivered if you stop checking in.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Related reading
Related reading
- JournalDigital estate planning: a simple guide for the US and EuropeDigital estate planning means listing your online accounts, turning on each platform's legacy settings, recording what should happen to each account, and naming someone to carry it out. In most US states, RUFADAA gives a platform's own legacy tool priority over your will, and your will priority over the terms of service.
- Digital legacy checklistTwenty things your family will need, grouped and saved as you go.
- JournalIs a letter after death legally binding?A letter you leave for after your death is usually not legally binding and can't replace a will. Wills must meet formal rules that vary by place, such as signatures and witnesses. Handwritten wills are accepted in some places, so a letter that reads like one can cause disputes. Use a will for legal decisions and letters for love, memories and wishes.
- JournalHow to write down your funeral wishes, with a simple templateTo write down your funeral wishes, decide on burial or cremation, the kind of service, music and readings, who should be told, a rough budget and your organ donation choice, then put it on one or two pages. Give a copy to the people who will arrange the funeral now, because a will is often read after the funeral has already happened.
- JournalHow to choose a guardian for your children, and how to ask themChoose a guardian for your children by thinking about who shares your values, has the energy and stability to raise them, and already has a bond with them, then ask that person directly and name them in your will. Keep care and money separate if that suits your family, and leave a letter so the guardian knows your children the way you do.
- JournalLetter of wishes: what it is, what to include, and an exampleA letter of wishes is a private, usually non-binding letter that sits alongside your will and tells your executors, trustees or guardians how you'd like things handled: who should get personal items, how a trust should be used, how your children should be raised. In the US the closest equivalent is often called a letter of instruction.
Most services only cover themselves. Your family needs the whole picture.
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