What Happens to Your Online Accounts When You Die?

A plain-language guide · 4 min read

Most of us now live online. Our photos, our money, our messages, our subscriptions — all behind logins only we know. So here's a question almost nobody asks until it's too late: what actually happens to all of it when you're gone?

The short answer: not much, automatically — and that's the problem.

Your accounts don't close themselves. They sit there, locked. Subscriptions keep charging the card. Photos stay sealed in the cloud. And the people you love are left guessing.

Each platform has its own rules — and none are simple

• Apple / iCloud: A "Legacy Contact" can request access — if you set one up in advance. Without it, families often need a court order.
• Google: "Inactive Account Manager" can share your data after a period of inactivity — again, only if you set it up first.
• Facebook / Instagram: Accounts can be memorialized or deleted, but only by someone who can prove their relationship.
• Banks & brokerages: Generally handled through the estate — but only if your executor knows the account exists.
• Crypto, PayPal, airline miles: Often simply lost if no one has the keys or even knows they're there.

The real issue isn't the rules — it's the map

Your family can't act on accounts they don't know about. The single most useful thing you can do is leave a clear inventory: what you have, where it lives, and who should get it. No passwords required — just a map.

How to make it easy (in an afternoon)

• List the accounts that matter — money, photos, subscriptions, social, anything you'd hate to lose.
• Note where each one lives (a hint, never a password).
• Decide who should receive what.
• Put it somewhere your people can find it, alongside your will.

That's the whole idea behind Postlude — a gentle, guided way to build that map and hand it to the people you choose.