What Happens to Email Accounts When Someone Dies

An email account can tell a story. We use it to communicate with our colleagues, set up appointments, and keep in touch with friends and family. Many emails are sent every day, but what happens to an email account when someone passes away? They usually aren’t automatically closed. Without intervention, a deceased’s email account can still receive messages, hold private data, and be hacked.

By planning for your own passing, you can ensure that your loved ones know what to do with your email and social media accounts after you are gone. Write down your passwords in a personal log, include your wishes in your will, and, in some cases, work with your email provider to create a plan for account inactivity. This will save your loved ones the stress of trying to figure things out on their own. Of course, there are still options for survivors of those who had no email account plans in place.

AOL

You can request the closure of a deceased family member’s AOL account if you provide AOL with a copy of the account owner’s death certificate. This includes suspending or canceling billing and premium services. AOL will not provide passwords or login details except in certain circumstance. You may submit the documentation through a from on AOL’s help page, or you may send the documentation to:

Concierge Executive Escalations
AOL
11955 Democracy Drive
Reston, VA 20190-5662

If you have an AOL username that is listed under the same account, for example, or if your loved one paid for multiple people’s accounts, you may request a transfer of ownership of the account. While owner transfers are possible, they require more information to be submitted.

For further assistance, you can call AOL customer support at 800-827-6364.

Google

Deleting a Google account will affect all things that Google manages: YouTube, Google Drive, Gmail, and any other Google products associated with the account. The best way to prepare for death is to set up your preferences in the Inactive Account Manager. You can choose when Google should consider your account inactive, decide who should be notified and what information should be shared with them, and tell Google whether you want your inactive account to be deleted.

You can list up to 10 people and give them access to whatever information you want (e.g., contacts, Google Drive, your entire account, your calendar, etc.). They will have access to this information for three months, after which the account will either be deleted or remain open, depending on your selection in the Inactive Account Manager. You have the option of adding a personal message to each of the people you choose to be notified upon Google’s detection of account inactivity, telling them your wishes and even sending them a message after your death.

If a loved one passes away without leaving instructions for their Google account, you can submit a request to Google asking them to close the account. You must be an immediate family member or a legal representative of the deceased for your request to be considered. You will need to furnish a copy of the death certificate. Google will not provide login information or access to the account, but may provide content from the deceased user’s account under certain circumstances.

iCloud

Apple IDs are tied to all sorts of data: payment methods, music or video purchases, applications, and iCloud email accounts. Apple is careful to protect account privacy, so gaining access to an Apple account will require specific documentation that may include a court order.

To permanently delete an Apple account, you will need your own Apple account, the ID of the Apple account that you wish to delete, and you will be required to submit a death certificate for your loved one. You can make the request on the Digital Legacy – Delete Apple Account page.

You may set up legacy contacts on your Apple account to provide a trusted individual access to your data after you pass away. Legacy contacts will be given a unique access key that they need to provide to Apple along with a death certificate. Legacy contacts are given access to all of your iCloud files, so make sure you assign someone you absolutely trust.

Contact Apple ID Support or call 800-275-2273 for more information.

Microsoft

Microsoft accounts are those that end in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, and @msn.com. Closing a Microsoft account deletes more than the email account – it also deletes files on OneDrive as well as Xbox Live data.

If you know the password to the account, you can close it yourself. It takes 60 days for an account to fully close, in case you want to reopen the account or access any associated data. If you do not know the password to the account, Microsoft accounts are closed and deleted automatically after two years of inactivity.

Keep in mind that some Microsoft products require subscriptions. Microsoft suggests closing the bank account or credit card associated with payment or revoking authorization of payment through the deceased’s financial institution if you have access. After this happens, OneDrive accounts and Outlook accounts will be frozen after one year and will be deleted shortly thereafter.

Microsoft will not grant you access to the account contents unless you serve the company with a valid subpoena or court order.

Yahoo!

Yahoo will not release passwords to the email accounts of deceased individuals, but they do have a process in place for loved ones to request the permanent closure and deletion of an account.

You must create a written request asking for the closure of the account and listing your loved one’s Yahoo ID and enclosing both a copy of their death certificate and a copy of a document that states that you are the executor of their estate or a personal representative of the deceased. They offer a submission form on their support page, but you may also mail your request and all required documents to:

Concierge Executive Escalations
Yahoo
11955 Democracy Drive
Reston, VA 20190-5662

Yahoo charges for certain premium services. You may cancel these services using a form on their support page or by calling Yahoo customer service at 866-265-4025.