When you die, what happens to your online life? Each platform has its own policies, ranging from permanent deletion to memorialization, allowing loved ones to manage or preserve an account as a tribute. Understanding these policies is key to ensuring your digital legacy is handled according to your wishes.
Since our social media profiles capture our thoughts, interests, and memories, deciding what happens to them after death is just as important as managing physical assets. So, let’s explore how major platforms handle deceased users’ accounts and what steps you can take to make sure your digital footprint is managed with care.
What Each Platform Allows
Managing your digital footprint after death involves knowing what each platform allows and requires. Below is an overview of the policies for major social media sites as of today. These policies may change, so it’s always a good idea to check directly with the platforms for updates.
Facebook provides two options for accounts of deceased users:
- Memorialization – Your account can be turned into a memorial space where friends and family can share memories. A designated Legacy Contact (chosen by you while alive) can update your profile picture, accept friend requests, and manage tribute posts. However, they cannot log in or view private messages.
- Permanent Deletion – If requested, the account will be removed entirely.
Instagram follows a similar policy to Facebook, as both social media platforms are owned by Meta:
- Memorialization – A “Remembering” label is added to the account, preventing it from appearing in public spaces like the Explore page.
- Permanent Deletion – Family members or legal representatives can request deletion, but must provide proof of death (e.g., a death certificate).
TikTok
- Account Deactivation Only – TikTok allows family members or legal representatives to request deactivation by submitting proof of death.
- No Memorialization Option – Unlike Facebook and Instagram, TikTok does not allow accounts to be preserved in a memorialized state. Once removed, the account is gone permanently.
X (formerly Twitter)
- Account Deletion Only – Family members can request to close a deceased user’s account by providing proof of death.
- No Memorialization Option – Once removed, all content is permanently deleted.
YouTube
YouTube falls under Google’s general policies, which offer a proactive option for managing your digital legacy:
- Inactive Account Manager – You can pre-set instructions for what happens to your account after a period of inactivity. This includes sharing data with trusted contacts or having the account automatically deleted.
- Account Deletion – Immediate family members or colleagues can request the removal of a deceased user’s profile by providing proof of death.
- No Memorialization Option – Since LinkedIn is a professional networking site, it does not preserve accounts for remembrance.
How to close or memorialize an account
It’s important to know that social media platforms generally discourage logging into a deceased person’s account as it poses privacy and security risks. To close or memorialize your account, family members must directly contact the service and provide the necessary documentation. They won’t be able to make a phone call, either – they’ll have to find out how to close or memorialize your account on each site separately, which can be time-consuming and frustrating.
But there’s a better way! You can create a plan that helps your loved ones navigate the process. To do that, you need a trusted estate planning lawyer.
What an Estate Planning Attorney Can Do
A trusted estate planning attorney plays a crucial role in helping manage your digital legacy, ensuring that your wishes for your online accounts are carried out after your passing. Here’s what a skilled attorney can do to help ensure that your loved ones have the necessary information and authority to manage your accounts:
1. Create a Digital Asset Plan
Your online presence doesn’t just disappear when you pass away. Without a plan in place, your loved ones may struggle to access your accounts or, worse, be unable to prevent them from being misused or lost. That’s where a digital asset plan comes in.
An estate planning attorney can help you create a detailed digital asset plan that outlines:
- Which accounts should be closed and which should be memorialized (e.g., keeping a Facebook profile as a tribute but deleting LinkedIn).
- What happens to other digital assets, including emails, cloud storage, digital wallets, and personal blogs.
- Who will manage your digital presence after you’re gone.
Your attorney can also guide you in appointing an executor, a person who will be responsible for managing your online assets according to your wishes. A knowledgeable attorney will explain the responsibilities involved and help ensure that the executor has the legal authority they need to act on your behalf with various digital platforms.
2. Provide Necessary Legal Documentation
A skilled attorney can prepare necessary legal documents that authorize your executor to access your accounts. This might include special powers of attorney and directives that are included in your will, trust, or in a separate document.
3. Secure Your Account Information
A trusted attorney can suggest secure ways to store your account usernames, passwords, and any other necessary information. This information can be kept in a way that respects privacy and security but becomes accessible to the digital executor or designated individuals after your death.
4. Update the Plan Over Time
As laws and platform policies change, a trusted estate planning attorney can help update your digital estate plan. This ensures that it remains compliant with new regulations and continues to reflect your wishes accurately.
However, it’s important to know that most estate planning attorneys treat their clients as a “one and done” transaction. Once your plan is signed, they won’t contact you again to ensure that your plan stays updated over time. And they won’t explain that failure to update your plan regularly means your plan won’t work when you need it to. Instead, work with a Personal Family Lawyer who will keep in touch for your lifetime to ensure your plan works.
How We Can Help
As a Personal Family Lawyer Firm, we don’t merely dispense legal counsel; we safeguard all your assets and guide you to make the right decisions for your unique situation. We take the time to fully understand what’s important to you, and then together, we’ll craft a thoughtful and holistic plan so you and your family can avoid the stress, conflict, and chaos that comes with incomplete planning – including incomplete digital planning.
To learn more about how we approach estate planning from a place of heart and understanding, schedule a complimentary 15-minute call with our office.
*Please note that these information sessions are exclusively dedicated to Life & Legacy planning. If you need to schedule a consultation for other matters, please contact us here.
This article is a service of SG Law PLC, a Personal Family Lawyer® Firm. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session™.
The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer® firm leaders, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.