His Photos, Email and Online Accounts Will Be Locked When He Dies Unless He Names a Legacy Contact. It Takes One Setting on His Phone
A locked phone after death can cut a family off from years of photos, messages, and memories while they wait on court orders and legal documentation. Apple, Google, and Facebook each built a back door into these accounts, and almost…
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When someone dies, a family often wants the photos from the last vacation, the old emails, and the notes he kept on his phone, and the phone is locked. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction), Google, and Facebook each let an account owner name a legacy contact, which is a person allowed into some of the account’s data after his death.
Without one, relatives usually have to file a formal request. For those requests, Apple says it requires and verifies legal documentation, which “generally includes a death certificate and may also require a court order or other documentation.”
What Apple’s Legacy Contact Unlocks
Apple describes a Legacy Contact as someone chosen “to have access to certain data in your Apple Account after your death.” The company says that data “might include photos, messages, notes, files, device backups, and more.” Some categories remain locked, including movies, music, books, or subscriptions purchased with the account, and data stored in iCloud Keychain, the built-in store for saved passwords and payment cards.
The setting is in the account owner’s name area of Settings, under Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact. Adding someone creates an access key, a code the contact will need later. Apple says the contact “must have both the access key and your death certificate to request access.”
How Google and Facebook Handle It
Google, part of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), uses a tool called Inactive Account Manager. The owner picks a waiting period. If the account sits unused that long, Google tells the people he chose and can send them a link to download his data. He can select up to 10 people and share all of his data or only certain types.
Google judges activity by signals such as sign-ins, Gmail use, and Android check-ins. Without a plan, Google “reserves the right to delete an inactive Google Account and its activity and data if you’re inactive across Google for at least two years.”
Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), works on a narrower scale. A legacy contact looks after a memorialized profile, meaning a profile kept up in memory after death. That person can write a pinned post, update the profile and cover photos, request removal of the account, and download a copy of what was shared if that feature was turned on.
According to Facebook, the legacy contact can’t log into the account or read messages. The owner can choose permanent deletion instead and must be 18 or older to select a legacy contact.
State Law Puts These Settings Ahead of a Will
Most states follow a model law called the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, or RUFADAA, drafted by the Uniform Law Commission. It gives executors, trustees, and agents under a power of attorney a legal path into a person’s digital accounts. Under it, online tools take priority, as long as the tool lets the user change the instructions at any time. A will, trust, or power of attorney comes second.
Companies holding the data must comply with a proper request within 60 days of receipt. A 2023 law firm report said forty-five states had adopted the act. Adoption and wording still vary by state.
Bank and Brokerage Accounts Run on Separate Rules
Money moves under separate rules from a legacy account. Online banking and brokerage accounts still pass through beneficiary designations, or through the estate. Two-factor authentication adds a second hurdle, because a login code may go to a phone nobody can open. A password manager with an emergency access feature is one workaround. Bitwarden, for example, lets a user designate trusted emergency contacts to access your vault in an emergency, with a wait period that can run from 1 to 90 days before access opens if the owner doesn’t deny the request.
Why Shared Passwords Can Cause Trouble
Giving a spouse or child a list of passwords may seem simple, but it can create legal problems. One law firm warns that under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, accessing someone else’s account can raise issues. Another legal guide notes that a fiduciary who logs into a decedent’s email in violation of the terms of service “does so without appropriate legal authorization.”
Another option pairs each platform’s built-in tool with a will or trust that expressly grants the executor access to digital assets (we include the full checklist, beneficiary forms, and account titling in a free estate planning guide).
One Setting That Avoids a Court Order Later
Apple’s Legacy Contact covers photos and messages. It sits in one menu in Settings, and you can save, print, or include the access key in estate planning documents. Google’s Inactive Account Manager and Facebook’s legacy contact setting take a similar few steps, and the RUFADAA in most states puts these choices ahead of a will.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
