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Digital legacy contact

Steps to name a legacy contact on each account, and a page for your person.

The walkthrough needs JavaScript, which is off in this browser. The notes below still explain what a legacy contact does and which guides cover each account.

Step 1 of 6

Which of these do you use?

Pick all that fit. Skip it, and you get the four big ones.

With what you've answered so far. Anything you skip prints as a line to fill in.

No account, no passwords, keys or codes. Nothing you type leaves your device.

This tool organizes information and is provided as is. It isn't legal, medical, tax or financial advice. Before you sign or rely on anything, check with a licensed attorney in your state or province. Terms

Why name a legacy contact

When you die, your photos, email and files go to whoever each company lets in. With no spouse or kids, that's often nobody. Without a legacy contact, Apple and Microsoft ask for a court order, and Google can delete an account after 2 years with no activity.

A digital legacy contact is the person you name, in an account's own settings, to get in after you die: a friend, your executor, or someone you pay.

How to use your walkthrough

Do it in one sitting

Sit down with your phone and the PDF, and tick each step as you go. Menus move: if a step doesn't match your screen, open the company's page linked under that account. Each one shows the date we read it.

Ask first, then hand over the last page

Ask before you name anyone. Then give them the last page of your PDF: it says what to do for each account, and by when. Google doesn't tell the people you name, so you have to.

Make your will say the same thing

Your legacy contacts and your will should agree. In most US states, the account's own setting wins if they disagree. A lawyer can add a digital assets clause to your will.

  • What is a legacy contact, and who can be yours.
  • Apple Legacy Contact, and can Apple unlock a dead person's phone?
  • Your Google account after death, and legacy contacts on Samsung and Android.
  • Facebook legacy contact, and your Microsoft account after death.
  • Password manager emergency access, and what happens to your phone number when you die.
  • Digital estate planning checklist, and a digital assets clause for your will.

Other free tools

This walkthrough is general information, not legal advice. Company menus and rules change.