Set Up a Parent's Digital Legacy: Inactive Account Manager and Legacy Contact

advance consent is the difference between a handover and a legal battle

The digital legacy setup map

The provider's legal answer to "can I have Mom's account?" is usually no, unless the parent named someone in advance: the settings below are that advance naming, done while the owner is alive and able.

1. Why it existsEmail holds the keysEmail accounts unlock bank resets, password recovery, subscriptions, and the digital record of a life, but providers cannot just hand an account to a family member who asks. Their solution is advance consent: the owner names a trusted person and what they may receive, while alive and able.
2. GoogleInactive Account ManagerSet the inactivity period (three months is a sensible default for a parent), add up to ten trusted contacts and what they receive (mail, photos, Drive), set the deletion decision (let contacts download, then delete), and add a reminder phone number so Google texts the parent before anything happens.
3. Apple + MicrosoftLegacy Contact and next-of-kinApple's Legacy Contact names someone who can request account access after death using an access key; Microsoft's next-of-kin process asks for a form and a death certificate. These do not replace the vault: they are the fallback for the platforms the parent uses daily.
4. The honest framePractical grief managementSetting this up is not morbid: it makes the practical side of grief manageable, and together with the digital pass order, the family is never locked out of everything at once.

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Why the settings exist

Email accounts hold the keys to everything else: bank resets, password recovery, subscriptions, and the digital record of a life. But providers cannot just give an account to a family member who asks, because that would let anyone claim any account. Their solution is advance consent: the account owner names a trusted person and what that person may receive, while the owner is alive and able. That is exactly what Inactive Account Manager and Legacy Contact are. Without them, the family's only path is the slow, uncertain legal one, which is why What happens to online accounts after death exists as the manual version. This page is the automatic version, done in advance.

Google: Inactive Account Manager (covers Gmail, Google Photos, and most Google services)

This setting tells Google what to do with the account after a period of inactivity, and it can name up to ten trusted contacts who will receive data access, and a decision about deletion:

1. Open the Google Account settings for the parent's account (the profile circle, then "Manage your Google Account").
2. Go to "Data & privacy," then "Inactive Account Manager" (or search "inactive account manager" in the account help).
3. Set the inactivity period: how long with no sign-in before it activates (3, 6, 12, or 18 months). Three months is a sensible default for a parent.
4. Add the trusted contacts and choose what they can receive: data (mail, photos, Drive files) and whether they may download it. The family member needs a Google account to receive the data.
5. Set the deletion decision: Google can delete the account after the period, or wait for the contact to download first. Choosing "let my contacts download, then delete" protects the data and the account.
6. Add a phone number for a reminder, so Google texts the parent before anything happens, giving them a chance to confirm they are still active.

See the official Google page in Sources for the current menu path; it moves occasionally.

Apple: Legacy Contact (covers Apple ID, iCloud, and device data)

Legacy Contact lets the parent name one or more people who can request access to the Apple account after death. The contact receives an access key while the parent is alive, and uses it (with the death certificate) after:

1. Open the Settings app on the parent's iPhone (or the Apple ID account page), then their name at the top.
2. Tap "Sign-In & Security," then "Legacy Contact."
3. Tap "Add Legacy Contact" and choose the family member from contacts (they need an Apple device).
4. Share the access key: Apple shows a key to save or print. Put it in the family password vault and the shared document folder, because it is the physical ticket to the data.
5. Tell the contact what they have access to: the legacy contact can access the parent's iCloud data (photos, mail, notes, files) after the request is approved with the death certificate. See the official Apple page in Sources.

The Microsoft and everything-else cases

Microsoft and most other providers do not have an equivalent advance-setting that hands data to a named person; their process after death is a formal request with documentation. For those accounts, the practical answer is the password vault and the written plan: the parent's accounts, passwords, and recovery options live in the vault (see the family password vault), and the executor uses them with the family's legal authority. The settings above are for the two biggest ecosystems; the vault covers the long tail.

What to do right after setting them up

• Write it down: note in the shared document folder which accounts have legacy access set, who the contact is, and where the access key lives. The family that cannot find the key has no key.
• Test the access key exists (the contact should be able to see it in their own settings), without triggering any data transfer.
• Do the same for the parent's other big accounts where the provider offers it, and rely on the vault for the rest.
• Review it yearly alongside the other documents: contact lists change, and the parent's wishes may too. See wills, trusts, and estate planning for the document-side review.

The honest limits

These settings are powerful and narrow. They are not a password handover (the parent's current password is still private; that is the vault's job). They do not transfer everything on every platform. And they only work if the parent set them up while able: once a parent has lost capacity, the settings generally cannot be added, and the family is back to the legal path and the manual guide. Which is exactly why this page is a "while you can" task, not a "someday" task. See Right after a dementia diagnosis for the wider window this belongs to.

Related

• What happens to online accounts after death: the manual closure order, for what the settings do not cover.
• Set up a family password vault: where the access keys and the long-tail accounts live.
• Wills, trusts, and estate planning: the legal side of the same conversation.
• Digital spring cleaning: fewer accounts means fewer accounts to hand over.

Sources

• Google: About Inactive Account Manager (retrieved August 2026)
• Apple: Add a Legacy Contact for your Apple ID (retrieved August 2026)

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