It’s the last question you thought you’d ever ask: what happens to social media accounts when someone dies? As we went through the process when our son Eric passed away last year, we wanted to share with you in one concise article the following information:
- A list of contact information for the most popular social media and web-based email account providers.
- Information they’ll need from you in order to process your request efficiently.
Web-Based Email Providers
It’s a bit more complicated for families than one would think if you’ve lost a loved one and want to gain access to their web-based email account from popular services like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Hotmail/MSN Live. So we found out, the process is two-fold: to protect the privacy of their clients and to ensure that you are, indeed, the proper person to be in receipt of the information. We’ll begin with Hotmail/MSN Live and then move on to Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.
How to Close a Hotmail Account for a Deceased Family Member
Hotmail/MSN Live is one of the more accommodating web-based email providers (along with Gmail) should you find yourself faced with needing to close a deceased family member’s email account.
Service provider: Hotmail (@hotmail.com)/MSN Live (@msn.com and @live.com)
What they will provide: CD with complete contents of the decedent’s email account, including contacts and emails
How to submit your request: Mail or fax
How to format your request: Include the name of the account holder and their email address on all pieces of paper and documentation accompanying your request.
Include the following information with your request for the most efficient process:
- Your name, phone number and email address.
- A document that states that you’re the benefactor or the executor to the decedent’s estate and/or that you have power of attorney for an incapacitated customer and/or are next of kin.
- A photocopy of your driver’s license or other government-issued identification.
- A photocopy of the death certificate.
- The complete name, address, email address, and date of birth of the account holder.
- Approximate date of account creation and date of last login (if known). If this information is not known, please indicate that you do not know.
- If your request originates from a non-English speaking country, they ask that your request be made in English, while all official documentation may be sent in its native language (legal papers stating executor status, identification, death certificate, etc.).
Within five days of the receipt of all of the information listed above, the Custodian of Records will contact you to confirm your identity and then send you the CD with the decedent’s account information.
Where to send your Hotmail/MSN Live Request
Fax #: (425) 708-0096
Mailing address: Windows Live/MSN Compliance,1065 La Avenida, Building 4, Mountain View, CA 94043, Attn: Custodian of Records
How to Close a Deceased’s Gmail Account
Service provider: Gmail (@gmail.com)
What they will provide: CD with complete contents of the decedent’s email account, including contacts and emails, pursuant to a court order and verifiable next of kin/executor status.
How to submit your request: Mail or fax
How to format your request: Send a document including the following information via fax or mail to Google. It will take about 30 days to process your request:
- Your complete name, address and email address.
- The decedent’s name (first and last) and email address.
- A copy of an email (including the FULL TEXT) you received at YOUR email address from the decedent, including complete headers. For more information on viewing headers from email providers other than Gmail, click here.
- Proof of death (death certificate or equivalent).
- If decedent was over 18, legal proof that you are the next of kin or legal executor of the estate.
- If decedent was under 18, a copy of the decedent’s birth certificate.
Where to send your Gmail Request
Fax #: (650) 644-0358
Mailing address: Google Inc., Attention: Gmail User Support,1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
How to Close a Deceased Family Member’s Yahoo! Mail Account
Here’s the sticky widget. Gmail and MSN were nice enough to tell you how THEY could help you. Yahoo! isn’t so nice. Here’s the direct clause from their Terms of Service telling you that, unfortunately, you’re out of luck:
“No Right of Survivorship and Non-Transferability. You agree that your Yahoo! account is non-transferable and any rights to your Yahoo! ID or contents within your account terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all contents therein permanently deleted.”
Yahoo! Customer Service
(866) 562-7219 or (408) 349-3300
cc-advoc@yahoo-inc.com or
mail@cc.yahoo-inc.com
Social Media Services
As the level of interaction for personal profiles can be pretty high, Facebook has a unique feature where they will memorialize the profile of a deceased account holder. When a profile is memorialized, only current friends will be able to locate it in a search. However, a beautiful feature available is that Facebook will leave the profile wall active so friends can stop by and leave messages on the wall in remembrance.
If you find yourself needing to have a friend or family member’s Facebook profile memorialized, just click this link and you’ll be brought to a specific page to complete your request. Please note that there are no phone numbers to contact Facebook. They communicate by contact form only. Additionally, the form above is used to both memorialize and request the deletion of a decedent’s account. You can specify your preferred action on the form.
Perhaps one of the simplest processes on the web, LinkedIn has a simple Verification of Death form. Complete instructions on how to submit this form and the information required can be found on the LinkedIn Customer Support Center. You can opt to submit the form either online or via fax. You will need to know the account holder’s most recent place of employment, as that’s what LinkedIn uses to verify the person’s identity. The form is simple to complete and does not require a death certificate for processing.
MySpace
Though MySpace is declining in popularity, you may find the need to contact them in the event of a loved one’s death. They seem to have pretty helpful procedures to follow to assist you.
- Make note of the decedent’s MySpace ID.
- Send an email to accountcare@support.myspace.com with the decedent’s MySpace ID, your email address, relation to the deceased and proof of death (i.e. death certificate, obituary).
- Include in your request whether you would like to PRESERVE, DELETE or REMOVE INFORMATION from the profile.
Note that MySpace will not let you edit any of the information yourself, but will work with you to remove any content you may find objectionable.
Strangely, we cannot locate any information on how to remove a deceased’s Twitter account. We’ve rifled through pages of help and gone through forums, but there’s nothing that tells us anything that we can pass along to you. Crazy, right?
Our best advice is to visit their Support Forum and submit a “ticket” to address your concern. Be as thorough as possible and understand that they’re notorious for not responding promptly. We hope they’ll be able to assist you should the need arise.
In Closing
Granted, the above is more information than you ever likely wanted to know about your social media accounts and their status after you’ve died. However, we hope it can serve as a resource for families in need and maybe give you, as a social media account holder, a guide.
It’s never a bad idea to add to that list of important bank and credit card accounts and whatnot your social media account information. Put it in a safety deposit box and make sure you update it every year. We never want to plan for the unexpected, yet should it happen, we’ll ease our loved ones’ journeys since we thought of something they might not have.
If you found this report interesting, download a printable copy here.
In our research, we found this well-crafted video that illustrates the eternal nature of our online information:
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I literally JUST wrote about this the other day because a friend of mine died and I found out about it through Facebook. While I wondered what would happen to his account in the long run (now I know, so thank you!) it’s been interesting to see how his profile is changing after his death. It’s become this memorial, with photo albums dedicated just to him, videos remembering his life, wall posts from friends telling funny stories…. His sister even posted his eulogy as a “note”. Facebook may be a silliness attributed to our generation, but I realize now it has completely altered it. Facebook has, importantly, changed the way we grieve. It’s made it better. Easier. Well, as easy as grief can be.
I personally think that leaving up the deceased’s facebook pages “in remembrance” is creepy and weird. Perhaps if it was only possible to view the pictures, but leaving messages to the dead on “their wall” just seems so cold and unfeeling. If you actually cared about the person, you should be visiting with the family left behind, the friends you shared, visiting their gravesite, etc. I feel like this is one area of our life (or afterlife) that facebook should not be a party of.
[...] via What Happens to Your Social Media Accounts When You Die? | Une Belle Vie Cremation Blog. [...]
This is such important information. A colleague of mine past away several months ago quite suddenly and he still comes up as a friend on Facebook. It is weird knowing he is gone, yet there he is on Facebook. Thank you soooo much for taking the time to write such an important post.
What Happens to Your Social Media Accounts When You Die? …
Ever wonder what happens to social media and web-based email account when a person dies? Read this comprehensive guide that covers major services like Twitter….
Incredibly useful information everyone should bookmark. While you may take the attitude that it doesn’t matter once you’re gone, we all will have times when we’re left to manage the estate of a friend or relative. Vital reading.
Thanks, Sarah – we’re glad you found the piece useful!
It’s our pleasure, Colleen (and apologies for the delay in response). After our own situation, we felt that putting something together like this would help people avoid dealing with what we did.
Suzanne – We think everyone goes through their own journey. One of the most heartwarming things for the Jamali family is the collection of messages left on their son’s Facebook wall on days like his birthday and other holidays. We find our own path and remember our loved ones in the ways that make the most sense to us :)
Marian – you spoke a mouthful! Online media is really changing the way we perceive (and in this case) remember people. I’m glad your friend is experiencing the JOY in remembrance, much like son of Une Belle Vie’s founders has :)
Excellent post with some great information. We’ve set up an entire section of our blog to detailing how to delete accounts, like how you’ve done here.
Without proper planning, it’s certainly no easy task on Digital Executors to transfer/delete your digital assets in accordance with your wishes. Luckily, you can prepare last wishes for all your online accounts and computer files for free at Entrustet.com. You can add up to 10 heirs and nominate a specific digital executor to carry out deletions and transfers of your valuable online accounts and computer files.
[...] This post was Twitted by eric_andersen [...]
Wow! Thanks to Sarah Mitchell for the heads up on this tremendous post. I referenced this topic today, but the level of detail here is incredible. I’m grateful something so useful has emanated from Eric’s passing. With best regards and sincere condolences, P.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Paul! Thanks for stopping by. Eric continues to be a blessing for the Jamali family each and every day :)
[...] So the first thing I wanted to know is how would some of my favorite social sites handle my passing? Twitter’s Deceased User Policy essentially states that a family member has to notify Twitter of the account owner’s passing and they’ll either delete the account or help the family to preserve a backup of the public tweets. Facebook provides a form for family members to submit in order to remove the deceased users account from the public stream and turn the account into a memorial page (although relatives can opt to have the account removed). For more information about how to close a deceased family member’s accounts, read this post on Une Belle Vie. [...]
[...] What happens to your Email account and Social profiles after you pass away? Posted: September 22nd, 2010 | Author: demetrius | Filed under: Off Topic, Uncategorized | No Comments » TweetI came across this article while browsing the web. Now, this article is a bit off topic and I’ll admit…a bit depressing, but it brings up an interesting question: What happens to your Email account and Social profiles after you die? [...]
[...] So the first thing I wanted to know is how would some of my favorite social sites handle my passing? Twitter’s Deceased User Policy essentially states that a family member has to notify Twitter of the account owner’s passing and they’ll either delete the account or help the family to preserve a backup of the public tweets. Facebook provides a form for family members to submit in order to remove the deceased users account from the public stream and turn the account into a memorial page (although relatives can opt to have the account removed). For more information about how to close a deceased family member’s accounts, read this post on Une Belle Vie. [...]
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Just added this page to stumble upon :)