Closing a Loved One's Online Accounts Calmly

Online accounts are the part of an estate nobody plans for. There is no single office to call, and each company has its own process. The good news is that most big platforms have one.

Start with the email account. It is the key to everything else, because password resets go there. Do not guess passwords or try to log in as your loved one. Many providers treat that as a breach of their terms, and it can lock the account for good.

Look for the platform's own process. Search each company's help centre for "deceased" or "legacy". Several large services let you either memorialise or close an account, and some let a person set up a trusted contact in advance. Google has an Inactive Account Manager, Apple has a Legacy Contact feature, and Facebook has a legacy contact option. Features change, so check the current steps on each site.

Keep what matters before you close anything. Photos, messages and documents can be gone for good once an account closes. Download or ask for what you want to keep first.

Work through this order:

- Email accounts - Phone and cloud storage (photos live here) - Social media - Subscriptions and streaming services - Online banking and shopping accounts, which usually go through the bank or estate process, not through the website

Cancel what costs money. Look at bank statements for recurring debits. Stopping them early saves real money.

Make it easier for your own family. You do not need to write passwords down. Write down which accounts matter and who should handle them, and use each platform's trusted-contact feature where it exists.

MyLegacyLivesOn lets you record where your accounts are and who should be told, without ever storing a password. Our short video on closing online accounts is shown below this post.

Start with ten minutes. Take the free 2-minute readiness check to see where your family would be stuck today, or create a free account and begin your list.

General information, not legal advice. This is a planning summary, not a legal document. Bring it to a qualified estate lawyer to formalize.