What happens to your online accounts when you die?
Your estate isn't just property and savings anymore. Photos, emails, and memories now live in Google, Apple, and Facebook accounts too, and without a plan, your family can find themselves locked out at exactly the wrong moment.
Why digital legacy is now part of estate planning
Quick summary: Google, Apple, and Facebook each let you plan ahead for what happens to your account after you die, but the tools are different for each, and none of them are switched on by default. Setting them up now, alongside your Will, means your executors aren't left trying to guess passwords or fighting a tech company's support system while grieving.
Most Wills deal thoroughly with property, savings, and possessions, but say nothing about the decades of photos in your Google Photos account, the messages on your phone, or the Facebook profile your friends and family will visit to grieve. Increasingly, that digital side of an estate matters just as much to the people left behind.
Google: Inactive Account Manager
Google doesn't call this a "legacy contact", its actual feature is called Inactive Account Manager, and it works a little differently. You choose a period of inactivity, for example 6 or 12 months, after which Google can notify up to ten trusted people and share access to specific parts of your account with them, Gmail, Photos, Drive, YouTube and more, and can automatically delete the account afterwards if you choose.
It's set up through your Google Account settings, under the Inactive Account Manager page, where Google keeps the exact steps up to date.
Apple: Legacy Contact
Apple's version is genuinely called Legacy Contact, part of its Digital Legacy programme. You nominate someone through your iPhone's settings, and Apple generates an access key for them to keep safe. After your death, your Legacy Contact can use that key, together with a copy of the death certificate, to request access to photos, messages, notes and files stored in your Apple Account.
It's worth knowing this doesn't cover everything, licensed media you've purchased, like films or music, generally can't be transferred, and some categories of data are handled differently. Apple explains exactly what's included on its Digital Legacy support page.
What happens to a Facebook account when you die?
Facebook gives you two choices, set in advance through your Memorialisation Settings. Your account can be memorialised, which adds "Remembering" above your name and keeps your existing posts and photos visible to friends and family as a place to gather memories, or permanently deleted.
If you choose memorialisation, you can also nominate a Legacy Contact, who can pin a tribute post, update your profile and cover photo, and respond to new friend requests, but cannot log in as you or read your private messages. If no preference or Legacy Contact has been set, family members can still request memorialisation or deletion afterwards, usually with proof such as a death certificate. Meta explains the full process here.
Why this matters for your Will and your executors
None of these platform tools replace a Will, but they work best alongside one. Your Will appoints the executor who'll be dealing with your affairs, and it helps enormously if they know what digital accounts exist in the first place, even if they can't access the accounts directly themselves.
A few practical things worth doing now:
- Set up Inactive Account Manager on Google and Legacy Contact on Apple, so someone you trust has a route in.
- Choose your Facebook memorialisation preference rather than leaving it to be decided after the fact.
- Keep a simple, securely stored list of which accounts and password manager you use, not the passwords themselves in your Will, since a Will becomes a public document once probate is granted.
- Mention digital assets to your executor directly, so it isn't something they discover by accident.
Never written a Will yet?
Digital legacy planning works best as part of a proper Will, where your executors and wishes are clearly set out. We can talk you through the whole picture.
Don't leave your family locked out when it matters most
Call 01934 442030 for a free, no-obligation conversation about getting your whole estate, digital included, properly planned for.
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