Social Media Accounts & Online Profiles After Death

What Happens to Social Media Accounts When Someone Dies?

Social media accounts do not automatically transfer to surviving family members or an executor. Depending on the platform, an account may be memorialized, removed, or subject to other procedures after the account holder's death. Without advance planning, family members may struggle to preserve photographs, request account closure, or determine what the deceased person would have wanted.

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Can You Choose What Happens to Facebook and Instagram After Death?

Facebook Legacy Contacts and Memorialized Accounts

Facebook allows users to designate a legacy contact who can perform certain limited tasks involving a memorialized account.

A legacy contact may be able to manage aspects of the memorialized profile but cannot log in as the deceased person or read private messages. Facebook also offers an option to request permanent account deletion after death.

Instagram and Other Social Media Profiles. Instagram provides procedures for requesting that a deceased person's account be memorialized or removed. Other platforms have their own policies concerning account access, deletion, and preservation.

Because these procedures vary, individuals should consider both their written estate planning instructions and the options provided by each platform.

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Can Your Estate Plan Control Access to Social Media Accounts?

New York's digital asset law permits individuals to give certain directions concerning the disclosure of digital assets and electronic communications. Under EPTL § 13-A-2.2, these directions may be provided through qualifying online tools or appropriate estate planning documents. However, legal authorization does not necessarily permit someone to log in to an account, assume the account holder's identity, or bypass a platform's restrictions. Coordinating your wishes with applicable account settings can help reduce uncertainty for your family.

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How Can You Protect Your Social Media Legacy?

A thoughtful digital estate plan can help you consider:

• Whether social media profiles should be memorialized or deleted.

• Who should be designated as a legacy contact, where available.

• Which photographs, posts, or other digital memories should be preserved.

• Whether certain personal information should remain private.

• How your preferences should be addressed in your estate planning documents.

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Plan Ahead With Eldon Trust & Estate

Your online identity is part of the legacy you leave behind.

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At Eldon Trust & Estate, we help clients address digital account access, privacy preferences, and social media directives as part of comprehensive estate planning.

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Planning ahead can provide clearer instructions for loved ones while helping protect the information and memories that matter most.

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Schedule an Estate Planning Consultation

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For additional information, visit our Digital Asset & Legacy Planning page.

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Sources & Legal References

New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, Article 13-A — Administration of Digital Assets

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/A13-A

EPTL § 13-A-2.2 — User Direction for Disclosure of Digital Assets

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/13-A-2.2

Meta — Adding a Facebook Legacy Contact

https://about.fb.com/news/2015/02/adding-a-legacy-contact/

Instagram Help Center — About Memorialized Accounts

https://help.instagram.com/264154560391256

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This information is provided for general educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Platform policies and available account-management features may change. References provided are only up-to-date as time of publication and should be independently verified before use.

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