The accounts, passwords, and devices the deceased left behind.
The average American adult has 100+ online accounts. After a death, most of those accounts keep running — still billing the credit card, still sending emails, still posting birthday reminders on Facebook. This is the platform-by-platform checklist for handling them, and the pre-death steps that make it dramatically easier.
Do not log in as the deceased.
It is tempting to just sign in with their password and handle the accounts directly. In most US states this violates the platform's terms of service and may violate the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In practice no one is prosecuted for a family member's account access, but the bigger problem is practical: logging in can lock the account, trigger fraud detection, or invalidate the formal closure process you actually want to use.
Use the platforms' bereavement processes. They are designed for this and they work. Each major platform is below.
Memorialize or delete. The family chooses.
Facebook offers two paths after a death: memorialize the account (it stays online but no one can log in, profile shows “Remembering”, friends can still post on the timeline) or delete it permanently.
Memorialize: anyone can request memorialization at facebook.com/help/contact/234739086860192. Facebook requires proof of death (death certificate, obituary, or news article). Processing takes 2 to 4 weeks.
Legacy contact: if the deceased set a Legacy Contact while alive, that person can manage the memorialized account (post a final message, change the profile photo, respond to friend requests, download an archive). The legacy contact cannot read messages or log in as the deceased.
Permanent deletion: immediate family can request full deletion at the same URL. Requires proof of death and proof of relationship (birth certificate, marriage certificate, or court letter). Deletion is permanent and removes everything — photos, comments, the profile itself.
Instagram: same two options (memorialize or delete) through help.instagram.com/contact/1474899482730688. Same documentation requirements.
If they set up Inactive Account Manager, it is already handled.
Inactive Account Manager (set during life): Google's standing offer to act on the user's instructions after a defined period of inactivity (typically 3–18 months). The deceased can designate up to 10 trusted contacts to receive copies of specific Google data (Gmail archive, Drive files, Photos) and can choose whether the account gets deleted automatically. If your loved one set this up, your job is mostly to wait for the email.
Bereavement process (no Inactive Account Manager): request access at support.google.com/accounts/troubleshooter/6357590. Google reviews requests case by case and may provide a download of Gmail archives, Drive files, or Photos. Account closure is a separate request at the same URL. Processing can take 1 to 3 months.
Google is more conservative than most platforms about releasing data. They typically grant funds in Google Pay or AdSense balances, photo archives, and Drive files. They are more reluctant to release email contents unless there's a court order.
Legacy Contact is the only easy path.
Legacy Contact (set during life): introduced in 2021. The Apple ID owner names a Legacy Contact in iCloud settings on any device. After death, the Legacy Contact requests access at digital-legacy.apple.com with a 16-character access key (provided to the contact at setup time) and a death certificate. The Legacy Contact then has 3 years to download iCloud data — photos, files, messages, notes, contacts.
Without Legacy Contact: without the Legacy Contact setup, Apple requires a court order to release iCloud data. This is the single biggest pain point in digital-legacy work because Apple is the most locked-down major platform. A probate court order for access to a specific Apple ID's data costs $300–$1,500 in legal fees plus court costs and typically takes 2–6 months.
Device passcodes: if you know the iPhone or Mac passcode, you can use the device. If you don't, Apple cannot unlock it regardless of court order — the encryption is device-side. The data on the device is permanently inaccessible unless iCloud backups exist.
Custodian-of-Record process.
Microsoft has a Next-of-Kin process to release account contents. Request at account.microsoft.com/security/account-deceased. Microsoft requires the deceased's email address, proof of death, proof of relationship, and a notarized affidavit. Processing typically takes 6 to 8 weeks. They deliver contents on a DVD by physical mail (yes, still).
1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden — the master key changes everything.
If the deceased used a password manager and you have the master password (or they recorded it somewhere accessible to family), the rest of the digital legacy work becomes dramatically easier. The vault contains logins to every online account, often with security questions, recovery emails, and notes.
1Password:has a built-in “family organizer” that can recover member accounts. For individual accounts without an organizer, recovery requires the Emergency Kit (PDF given at signup with the secret key).
Bitwarden: offers Emergency Access — the user pre-designates a trusted contact who can request access after a waiting period. Best set up while alive.
LastPass: offers Emergency Access with a similar pre-designation model. Without it, LastPass cannot recover an account; the master password is the only way in.
Without the master password and without an emergency contact pre-configured, the vault is generally irrecoverable. Plan for this in advance.
Almost always irrecoverable without the keys.
Self-custodied cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, most others) is protected by a private key or seed phrase. Without it, the funds are mathematically inaccessible. No exchange, no court order, and no amount of legal work can recover them. The estate must treat the loss as permanent.
Exchange-held crypto: cryptocurrency on a regulated exchange (Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Binance.US) is recoverable through the exchange's bereavement process — the exchange holds the keys. Requirements typically: death certificate, probate documents (letters testamentary), and a request from the executor. Most US exchanges have published procedures.
Self-custody (hardware wallets, software wallets): check physical locations the deceased might have stored a seed phrase — safes, fireproof boxes, envelopes labeled “in case of emergency”, a piece of paper with 12 or 24 words on it. Some people split a seed phrase across multiple locations using Shamir's Secret Sharing. If after exhaustive search the seed phrase cannot be found, the funds are gone.
The credit-card audit.
The single most useful action in the first month is a credit-card statement review. Pull the last 12 months of statements for the deceased's primary cards. Every recurring charge is an account that needs to be canceled. Common entries: Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Apple One, Hulu, Adobe Creative Cloud, gym memberships, magazine subscriptions, dating apps, mobile apps with in-app subscriptions, domain registrations, cloud storage, VPN services, news sites, identity-theft protection, and donations to causes.
Most subscriptions cancel with the death certificate and an email to support. Some refund the unused portion; many do not. The credit-card company can also dispute charges that post after the death date with the certificate as evidence; the issuer will refund and the merchant will absorb the loss.
Closing the credit card itself stops all future charges and is the cleanest approach. Notify the issuer with a death certificate; they freeze the account and zero out the balance from the estate. Joint cards stay open for the surviving cardholder but the deceased's name is removed.
Loyalty, frequent flyer, store credit.
Most loyalty and rewards programs allow transfer of points to a spouse or estate with a death certificate. Each program has its own rules and deadlines. The big ones:
- Airline miles: Delta, American, United, Southwest all allow transfer to next of kin with a death certificate. Most require a written request and may charge a transfer fee.
- Hotel points: Marriott, Hilton, IHG allow transfer with death certificate. Time-sensitive — some expire points 12 months after the account holder's death.
- Credit card points: Chase, Amex, Capital One typically allow transfer with death certificate, often time-limited (90 days or less from notification). Some require the estate to take the points in cash equivalent at a reduced rate.
- Store gift cards: generally transferable to whoever holds the card. No formal process.
Renew before they expire.
If the deceased owned domain names, they need to be transferred to the estate or to a beneficiary before they expire. Domain expiration triggers loss of the domain (with a short recovery window). Most registrars have a deceased-owner transfer process requiring a death certificate and proof of authority (letters testamentary).
Active online businesses (Etsy shops, eBay seller accounts, Patreon, Substack, YouTube monetization) generally require similar documentation and the executor's involvement. Earnings continue accruing in many cases and are part of the estate.
If you are reading this for yourself, four things to do now.
- Set up a password manager and add one trusted emergency contact. Bitwarden (free) and 1Password are the standards. Configure Emergency Access in the settings.
- Add a Legacy Contact in iCloud. Settings → your Apple ID → Sign-In & Security → Legacy Contact. Print the access key. Give it to the person you named.
- Configure Google Inactive Account Manager. Visit myaccount.google.com/inactive and name your trusted contacts.
- Set Facebook and Instagram Legacy Contacts. Settings → Memorialization Settings on each.
Each step takes under 10 minutes. Together they save the family weeks of effort and, in the Apple case, hundreds of dollars in legal fees.
This page is general consumer information, not legal advice. Platform processes change frequently; verify the current procedure with each platform directly before relying on the steps here. URL paths above were accurate at time of writing. We are not affiliated with any platform mentioned.
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