HOW TO MANAGE YOUR DIGITAL ACCOUNTS AFTER YOUR DEATH — PART 1
If you have specific preferences about what happens to your digital presence after you pass away, it’s essential to take action now. Without prior planning, your online legacy will be managed according to the policies of the various platforms you use, and you won't have control over how it’s handled. If you have accounts with services like Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Apple, or Amazon, you have a digital legacy that you can choose to preserve or delete.
Following your death, some of your online accounts may remain active indefinitely, others might expire after a period of inactivity, and some platforms offer processes that allow family and friends to access and manage your accounts. Because digital platforms are integral to our daily lives and provide personal snapshots of who we are, these digital assets can be a crucial part of your legacy. You may wish to protect these memories, or you might prefer to have your online history deleted permanently.
Whether you want to preserve or erase your digital footprint, you need to plan ahead to ensure your wishes are carried out. Here, we’ll explore how some of the most popular digital platforms handle your account after your death and how you can include these digital assets in your estate plan to ensure they are properly managed and passed on.
Facebook allows you to appoint a “Legacy Contact” to manage your profile after your death, unless you opt to have your account deleted. A Legacy Contact can control certain aspects of your account once it has been memorialized. When Facebook memorializes an account, the word “Remembering” is added to the profile name, and only confirmed friends can view or search for the profile. Depending on your privacy settings, friends and family can post and share memories on your timeline.
A memorialized account is locked, meaning that original content cannot be altered or deleted, even if someone has your password. Your account can be memorialized regardless of whether you select a legacy contact. To memorialize an account, Facebook requires proof of death, such as an obituary, provided through a special request form.
If you have designated a Legacy Contact, they can manage your memorialized account based on the permissions you’ve set. This includes actions like writing pinned posts, deciding who can view and post tributes, responding to friend requests, updating cover and profile photos, and requesting account closure. However, your Legacy Contact cannot log in as you, read your direct messages, remove friends, or send friend requests.
GMAIL, GOOGLE, & YOUTUBE
Google offers several services, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Photos, and Google Play. To manage these accounts after your death, Google provides the Inactive Account Manager feature. You can set a period of inactivity—3, 6, 12, or 18 months—before this service is activated. You can designate up to 10 people who can access your account once it becomes inactive, specifying which data they can access, such as emails, photos, documents, and other content.
The Inactive Account Manager also allows you to opt for account deletion. If you choose this option, Google will delete your content or share it with your designated contacts before deletion. Your contacts will have 3 months to download the data before it’s permanently deleted. If you do not set up the Inactive Account Manager, Google will automatically delete your account after two years of inactivity.
Because Google owns YouTube, where videos can generate revenue indefinitely, it’s crucial to use the Inactive Account Manager to protect this asset. Including these digital assets in your estate plan ensures they are managed and passed on effectively to your loved ones.
CONCLUSION
Understanding how various platforms handle your accounts after death and incorporating these digital assets into your estate plan is vital. This ensures your wishes are honored, whether you want to preserve your digital legacy or have it deleted.
For further guidance on protecting and passing on your digital and other assets, it's essential to have a comprehensive estate plan that includes all your tangible and intangible assets. Planning ahead ensures that your legacy is preserved and managed according to your wishes.
This article is a service of Zarda Law, S.C. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That's why we offer Legacy Planning Session, during which you will get financially organized and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by scheduling a Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
