If you have preferences about what happens to your digital footprint after your death, you need to take action. Otherwise, your online legacy will be determined for you—and not by you. If you have any online accounts, such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Apple, or Amazon, you have a digital legacy, and that legacy is yours to preserve or lose.
Following your death, unless you’ve planned ahead, some of your online accounts will survive indefinitely, while others automatically expire after a period of inactivity, and still others have specific processes that let you give family and friends the ability to access and posthumously manage your accounts.
Last week, in part one of this series, we covered the processes that Facebook and Google have in place to manage your digital accounts following your death. Here in part two, we’ll continue our discussion, covering how Instagram and Apple’s collection of online platforms handle your accounts once you log off for the final time.
Given that Instagram is owned by Facebook, the photo and video-sharing social media platform’s processes for handling your account after your death are similar—but not entirely the same—as Facebook’s. As a reminder, Facebook allows you to name a legacy contact to handle your death, and Instagram gives you two options for managing your account after death: You can either have your account memorialized, or you can have it deleted.
However, it’s your family—not you—that has the final say. This makes it all the more important that your loved ones are well-aware of your wishes for how you’d like this digital asset managed when you die.
In order to have your account memorialized, Instagram requires a family member or friend to submit a special request form, along with proof of your death, such as your obituary or death certificate. Once your account is memorialized, the word "Remembering" appears next to your profile name, and your account will basically be frozen, appearing exactly as you left it before your death.
All posts shared on your memorialized Instagram account will be preserved and shared with the same audience they were before your death. No one can log into your memorialized account, make changes to your posts, profile information, or settings. Additionally, your memorialized account will no longer appear in public Instagram forums, such as its Explore page.
Alternatively, Instagram allows your account to be permanently deleted after your death. According to Instagram's policy, only family members can have your account deleted, and this requires a bit more effort than memorialization.
To have your Instagram account permanently erased from cyberspace, your loved ones must not only submit a special form, but they must also supply your birth certificate, proof of death, as well as proof that they are your lawful representative under local law, the latter of which can take the form of a power of attorney document, a will, or an estate letter.
Apple Devices & Services
As you likely know well, all Apple devices and services require an Apple ID. This ID is used for everything from logging on to your iCloud files and making App Store purchases to tracking and finding your lost iPhone with the FindMy app.
Like Facebook, Apple lets you select a “Legacy Contact” to manage the data and devices connected to your Apple ID after your death. Your Legacy Contact can be anyone you choose, and you can even designate more than one Legacy Contact.
The data your Legacy Contact(s) can access and manage includes items, such as photos, videos, messages, notes, files, contacts, calendar entries, downloaded apps, and backups of any devices stored in iCloud. Your Legacy Contact(s) will also be able to remove the Activation Lock from your devices, so they can personally use them, give them away, or sell them.
However, your Legacy Contact(s) will NOT have access to your login or password information, your payment information, your iCloud email accounts, or any of your licensed media. This means that you can’t pass on your collection of music, movies, or apps, unless that media already exists on one of the devices you own.
Before providing access, Apple reviews all requests made by your Legacy Contact(s). To gain access, your Legacy Contact(s) will need the access key provided when they were first nominated, as well as a copy of your death certificate and your date of birth. This makes it vital for your Legacy Contact(s) to print out a physical copy of their access key and safely store it, rather than relying on it being saved in your messages app or password manager.
Once access is approved, your Legacy Contact(s) receives a special Apple ID to access your account. From then on, your old Apple ID and password will no longer work, and Activation Lock is removed from all devices using your Apple ID. From the time the first legacy account request is approved, your Legacy Contact(s) has three years to access your data and devices, after which your account is permanently deleted.
It is important to note that without a Legacy Contact, Apple will not release any information to your heirs without a court order. That means that your loved ones would have to open a probate estate in order to access any digital assets held on your Apple devices.
We're here to help
Although you can manage many of the processes described here on your own, when it comes to preparing your estate plan, you should always work with an attorney. Using our Life & Legacy Planning Process, we’ll ensure that all of your digital assets, along with your more traditional forms of property and wealth, are preserved and passed on seamlessly to your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity. And we will accomplish all of this while ensuring you have the maximum level of privacy possible.
With this in mind, check back next week for part three, where we’ll conclude this series by offering an easy, five-step process for including digital assets in your estate plan. In the meantime, if you're ready to get started, click here to schedule a free 15 minute consultation, or e-mail lauren@kaplanestatelaw.com.
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