What Happens to Online Accounts After Someone Dies? A Practical Guide for UK Families
After losing a loved one, alongside the funeral and paperwork, families often discover an unexpected challenge: what happens to their online accounts? Email, Facebook, banking, photo libraries, perhaps a cryptocurrency wallet. Modern lives leave a digital footprint that doesn't disappear on its own.
More than just admin
Untouched online accounts can cause real problems: banking that needs releasing to the estate, subscriptions that keep charging, social media that sends painful birthday reminders, and irreplaceable photos that risk being lost if accounts quietly expire.
How to find a loved one's online accounts
The hardest part is often finding them, not closing them. Start with the main email inbox: statements, receipts and renewal notices reveal most of what exists. Bank statements show recurring payments. A password manager, if used, is often a complete map. Services like Life After Me let you store this kind of record securely while you're well, so the people you love don't have to play detective at the worst possible time.
Social media and email accounts
Each major platform has its own rules. The questions are: can you memorialise or close the account, was a legacy feature set up in advance, and what documents are needed?
Facebook and Instagram (Meta). Memorialise or remove permanently. A Legacy Contact, if one was set up, can manage limited features.
Google. If Inactive Account Manager was set up in advance, nominated contacts receive what was chosen for them. Otherwise, family can request closure or data — Google does not share passwords. Inactive accounts are deleted after two years.
Apple. A Legacy Contact with an access key and death certificate can request most iCloud data and remove Activation Lock. Without one, the process may require a court order.
LinkedIn allows closure or memorialisation. Microsoft generally doesn't give family access. If preserving photos or messages matters most, download what you can before requesting closure.
Banking, investments and digital assets
For UK banks, the Death Notification Service (deathnotificationservice.co.uk) is the simplest place to start — one free online form notifies 40+ banks including Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, HSBC UK, Santander and Nationwide. Every major UK bank also has a bereavement team you can ring directly. Investment platforms and pension providers each have their own process; expect to provide a death certificate and grant of probate.
Cryptocurrency is the trickiest. Coins on exchanges can be released through their estate process, but coins in a self-custody wallet are unrecoverable without the keys.
Where to get help in the UK
Tell Us Once is the government's free one-stop service. The registrar gives you a reference number for gov.uk/tell-us-once (or 0800 085 7308). It notifies HMRC, DWP, the Passport Office, DVLA and your local council in one go. Use within 28 days.
Also useful: Cruse Bereavement Support (0808 808 1677) for emotional support, and Citizens Advice for paperwork. For complex estates, speak to a solicitor.
Planning ahead — a gift to your family
Most of this is preventable. Setting up a Facebook Legacy Contact, Apple's Digital Legacy and Google's Inactive Account Manager takes minutes and unlocks the bulk of what most families spend weeks chasing. A single, secure record of your accounts and instructions — what Life After Me is built for — is one of the kindest, most practical things you can do for your family.
Looking for the practical steps? See our First-Week Checklist for UK Families.
General information for UK families — not legal advice.
