How to inventory, preserve, memorialise or close accounts using current Meta, Google, Apple, LinkedIn and X routes without assuming password access.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Estate Assets guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 8 min.
Do not assume that knowing a password authorises access. Provider terms, computer-misuse law, confidentiality, ownership and the scope of the personal representatives' authority all matter. Use the provider's deceased-user process wherever possible.
No. First identify estate value, evidence, subscriptions, business records, photographs and the family's wishes. Closing an account can make later retrieval impossible; Google expressly warns that closure prevents a later content request.
Meta provides routes to memorialise an account or request its removal. A legacy contact has limited functions and cannot log in as the deceased or read messages. Use Meta's current form and evidence requirements.
No. Google says it cannot provide passwords or other login details. It may close the account and, in certain circumstances, provide content after a careful review, but it does not guarantee disclosure.
An approved Legacy Contact can request access using the access key and death certificate. Apple excludes some data, including Keychain passwords and licensed media, and access is time-limited after approval.
Apple says it may help remove Activation Lock with legal documentation, but the device will need to be restored to factory settings before use with another Apple Account. That erases the device, so preserve needed evidence first.