If you are reading this because someone has died and you are trying to get into their accounts, start here: there is one thing to do first, and it is not filling in a form.

Secure the primary email account before anything else. Almost every other account resets through it. It is also the account most exposed in the weeks after a death, because notices are public, nobody is watching the inbox, and password resets flow straight through it. If you have lawful access to it, use it. If you do not, get the process started today rather than after you have worked through the smaller accounts.

The rest of this is the runbook, provider by provider, with the honest answer about what each one will and will not do.

One framing note. This is general guidance about how the platforms work, not legal advice. What you are entitled to depends on the estate and the jurisdiction, and the person with authority to act is normally the executor or administrator.

What you will need before you start

Every provider asks for some version of the same evidence. Gathering it once saves a great deal of repetition.

A certified copy of the death certificate, and several of them, since some organisations keep the copy they are given. Proof of your own identity. Proof of your authority, which typically means a grant of probate, letters of administration, or the equivalent court document naming you. The exact email address or account identifier. And, if one exists, whatever the person set up in advance.

That last item is the one that changes everything, so deal with it first.

Step one: check for advance arrangements

Before any formal request, find out whether the person set up a legacy tool. It is far faster, far less invasive, and it is the route the platforms actually prefer.

Google's Inactive Account Manager. The person could nominate up to ten trusted contacts and choose exactly which data each receives, triggered after a chosen period of inactivity. If you were nominated, you receive an email with a download link. Note the trigger is inactivity, not a death certificate, so there is a waiting period built in by design.

Apple's Legacy Contact. If you were named, you hold an access key, either stored automatically on your device or given to you as a printout or PDF. With that key plus a death certificate you can request access. It covers photos, messages, notes, files, and device backups. It does not cover purchased movies, music, or books, and it does not cover anything in iCloud Keychain, which means passwords and passkeys do not come through this route.

Meta legacy contact. For Facebook, the person could nominate someone to manage a memorialised profile.

If any of these exist, use them. They are quicker than the alternative and they were the person's own stated wish, which matters if anyone later questions what you did.

Google, when nothing was set up

Google has a formal process for requests about a deceased user's account. It runs in stages, it takes weeks rather than days, and it involves a careful review.

Expect to supply the death certificate and proof of your authority, usually translated if it is not in English. Expect the review to be slow, and expect the possibility of refusal.

The honest expectation to set: Google will not hand over the password. What may be possible is obtaining data from the account or closing it. Access to content is decided case by case and is never guaranteed. Anyone who tells you a court order automatically produces the contents of a Gmail account is overstating it.

There is also a deadline nobody mentions. Google treats an account unused for two years as inactive, after which its content can be deleted. An estate that drags on can quietly cross that line.

Apple, when no Legacy Contact exists

Apple has a separate route to request access to a deceased family member's account. It generally requires a court order in addition to the death certificate, and Apple is specific about what that order must say.

This is slower and harder than the Legacy Contact route by a wide margin, which is the entire argument for setting up a Legacy Contact while alive. Same exclusions apply: purchased media and Keychain contents are out of scope.

Meta: memorialise or remove

Facebook and Instagram do not give anyone the login. There are two outcomes.

Memorialise. The profile stays up with a memorial marker. Existing content remains visible to whoever could already see it. A legacy contact, if one was named, can manage limited aspects of it.

Remove. A verified immediate family member or the estate's representative can request deletion of the account.

Meta requires verification that you are an immediate family member or an authorised representative. Expect to provide the death certificate and proof of relationship or authority. Do not expect to be given the password under any circumstances.

The rest, in priority order

After email and social, work in this order. It is sequenced by financial risk rather than sentiment.

Financial accounts. Banks, brokerages, and payment providers have dedicated bereavement teams and clear documented processes. They are usually the most straightforward part of the whole exercise. Contact them early, since accounts are typically frozen on notification, which is what you want.

Subscriptions and recurring charges. Cancel these quickly. An estate can bleed for a year through auto renewals nobody noticed. The email search that finds them is the word "renewal" over the last twelve months.

Domains and hosting. These expire, and an expired domain is often gone for good. If the person ran a business or a site of any value, check renewal dates in the first week.

Cloud storage and photos. Usually the most emotionally important and the least urgent, unless a storage plan is about to lapse for non payment, which does happen.

Crypto. Different in kind from everything else, covered below.

Loyalty points and airline miles. Often transferable on death, often not, and the rules vary by programme. Worth a check if the balances are large.

Crypto: the honest section

If the person held self custodied crypto, the outcome is decided entirely by whether you can find the keys.

A seed phrase or private key is the asset. There is no provider to appeal to, no support line, and no court order that reconstructs a key. If it was written on paper, find the paper. If it was in a hardware wallet, find the device and the recovery phrase. If it existed only in someone's memory, it is gone, and no amount of legal entitlement changes that.

Exchange accounts are different and much better. A centralised exchange is a company with a bereavement process, much like a bank. Death certificate, proof of authority, and a wait.

One warning worth stating plainly. Anyone who contacts you offering to recover a lost wallet for a fee is running a scam. Recovery services advertising to grieving families are close to universally fraudulent. Do not send them a seed phrase, a payment, or a device.

What nobody will do for you

Setting expectations early prevents a lot of wasted effort.

No provider will give you the password. Not with a death certificate, not with probate, not with a court order. The model is data release or account closure, not credential handover.

Using known credentials is legally grey. If you happen to have the password, logging in may breach the provider's terms and, depending on jurisdiction, computer misuse law. Executors are generally advised to use the formal route. Speak to the estate's lawyer before deciding.

Content access is discretionary. Providers weigh the deceased person's privacy against the family's request. Refusal is a real outcome, particularly for message content.

It is slow. Weeks per provider is normal. Months is common. Run requests in parallel rather than one at a time, because sequencing them adds up fast.

The thing to take away

Every hard part of this exists because nothing was set up in advance.

The person who nominated a Google contact, added an Apple Legacy Contact, named a Meta legacy contact, and left an inventory of what exists turns this entire runbook into an afternoon. The person who did none of it leaves their family six months of forms, and some things that are simply never recovered.

If you are here as an executor, work the list. If you are here because reading this made you think about your own accounts, the whole set of advance arrangements takes about fifteen minutes and can only be done while you are alive.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get access to a deceased person's email?

First check whether they set up an advance tool such as Google's Inactive Account Manager. If not, use the provider's formal deceased user process with a death certificate and proof of your authority. Expect weeks, and expect data release or closure rather than the password.

Will Google give me a deceased person's password?

No. Google's process may allow data to be obtained or the account closed, decided case by case. Passwords are never handed over.

What does Apple's Legacy Contact give access to?

Photos, messages, notes, files, and device backups. It excludes purchased movies, music and books, and excludes anything in iCloud Keychain, so passwords and passkeys do not transfer.

Can I just log in with their password if I know it?

It is legally grey and may breach both platform terms and computer misuse law depending on jurisdiction. Executors are usually advised to use the formal process. Ask the estate's lawyer first.

What happens to a Facebook account when someone dies?

It can be memorialised, keeping the profile visible with a memorial marker, or removed at the request of a verified immediate family member or estate representative. Meta does not release the login.

What happens to crypto if we cannot find the keys?

Self custodied crypto with no recoverable seed phrase or private key is unrecoverable, regardless of legal entitlement. Exchange held crypto is different and follows a bereavement process like a bank. Treat any paid wallet recovery offer as a scam.

How long does this take?

Weeks per provider is normal and months is common. Submit requests to all providers in parallel rather than working through them one at a time.

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