Someone died. Their accounts are still running.
Their email, photos, and subscriptions are all still out there, and some of it is on a timer. This site walks you through what to do, in the order it matters.
Someone has died
Start here. We’ll take it one step at a time: the paperwork, the accounts, the money, and the one task that can’t wait.
Start here →I’m planning ahead
An afternoon of work now spares your family months of guesswork later. Three settings matter more than your will.
Plan ahead →If you do one thing today
Don’t cancel anything yet. It’s the natural first instinct, and it can backfire: cancelling a storage plan can delete the photographs it was holding, and Google deletes whole accounts after two years of silence. Copy the files out first, then cancel.
What this site covers
Three separate systems decide what happens to an account after a death: the platform’s own settings, your state’s law, and federal privacy law. They don’t always agree, and no platform hands over a password to anyone. These pages explain what each system actually does, so you know what to expect before you ask for anything.
After a death
- Start hereA plain-language order of work for the digital side of an estate: what is urgent, what can wait, and what can’t be undone.
- Save the photos firstGoogle deletes an account after two years of inactivity and Apple’s terms set one year. Copy everything before you cancel anything.
- The paperworkDeath certificates, letters testamentary, and why LinkedIn rejects a will while Facebook accepts an obituary.
- Stop the paymentsSubscriptions keep billing after a death. How to find them, what order to cancel in, and what survivors do not owe.
Planning your own
- Where to startAn afternoon of work now saves your family months later. What actually has legal force, and what only looks like it does.
- Legacy contactsFacebook, Google, and Apple each let you name someone. Under US law that setting beats the will you paid a lawyer to draft.
- Passwords and codesPassword managers, emergency access, and why two-factor backup codes are estate objects in their own right.
What this site is not
This site isn’t legal advice, and it doesn’t sell anything. Digital estate law varies by state, so decisions about a particular estate belong with a lawyer licensed where the estate is being administered. There’s no newsletter, no account to create, and nothing here tries to hurry you.
Every claim carries the date it was last verified, because guidance on this subject decays in documented ways — see how we check this.