When someone dies, their life doesn't just live in a filing cabinet anymore. It lives in their email, their phone, their photo library, their social media, and a tangle of online accounts protected by passwords nobody else knows. If you're settling an estate, getting into those accounts is one of the most frustrating parts of the job, and the rules are not what most people expect.

Here's the short version: a federal-model law called RUFADAA governs who can access a deceased person's digital accounts, and it almost always overrides a quick phone call or a copy of the death certificate. Whether you get in depends on three things, checked in order: any online tool the person set up themselves, then their will or legal directive, and finally the company's terms of service. This guide walks through how that works and what to actually do for the accounts that matter most.

What counts as a digital asset

A digital asset is any electronic record the person had a right to. That covers more than people realize:

• Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo), which are often the master key to resetting every other password
• Photos and files stored in iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox, or a password manager
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X
• Financial logins: bank, brokerage, PayPal, Venmo
• Subscriptions and shopping: Amazon, Netflix, Apple, utilities on autopay
• Loyalty points, domain names, and any online business

Two things are worth separating early. The account (the login) and the contents (the messages, photos, money inside) are treated differently under the law. And a digital asset is not the same as the device it sits on. Owning your late father's laptop does not automatically give you the legal right to read what's in his email.

RUFADAA: the law that actually controls access

Most states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, usually shortened to RUFADAA. It sets a clear order of priority for who can get into a digital account after death.

First, an online tool set by the user. Several companies let people decide in advance what happens to their account. If the deceased used one of these, it beats everything else, including the will. The big ones:

• Google Inactive Account Manager lets a person name someone to receive their data after the account sits unused for a set period.
• Apple Legacy Contact lets a person name someone who can request access to their Apple Account data with a death certificate and an access key.
• Facebook legacy contact lets a person pick someone to manage a memorialized profile.

Second, the will or a legal directive. If there's no online tool, language in the will, trust, or power of attorney that grants access to digital assets controls. This is why naming a digital executor and listing digital-asset authority in estate documents matters so much.

Third, the company's terms of service. If neither of the above exists, you fall back on whatever the provider's policy says, and those policies are usually restrictive. Many companies will close or memorialize an account but will not hand over the contents without a court order.

The practical takeaway: the choices the person made while alive matter more than the documents you produce after death. When nothing was set up in advance, you're left negotiating with each provider one at a time.

Step by step: getting into the accounts that matter

Start with the password manager and the phone

Before you contact a single company, look for a shortcut. If the person used a password manager (1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden) or kept passwords in a notebook or a "passwords" note on their phone, you may already have everything you need. An unlocked phone is gold, because most password resets send a code by text. If you can get into the phone and the primary email, you can often reach the rest without ever filing a request.

A word of caution: logging into someone's account with their saved password can violate a provider's terms of service and, in some readings, computer-fraud laws. For purely sentimental access among family this is a gray area most people quietly accept. For financial accounts, do it the official way through the estate so you have a clean paper trail.

Secure the email account first

Email is the hub. A reset link for the bank, the brokerage, and the utility company all land in the inbox. Securing or accessing the primary email account early makes every other step easier. If you can't get in, go straight to the provider's legacy or deceased-user process (Google Inactive Account Manager data requests, for example) instead of guessing at passwords.

Inventory before you start closing things

Make a list before you cancel anything. Watch the email inbox and the bank statements for a full billing cycle to catch recurring charges, renewing subscriptions, and any income (a small online business, ad revenue, royalties). Closing an account too fast can erase records you need for the estate accounting or the final tax return. This is the assets-and-liabilities-first habit that keeps an estate clean: know what's there before you touch it.

Decide: memorialize, transfer, or close

For each account, you'll choose one path:

• Memorialize a social profile so it stays up as a remembrance (Facebook and Instagram both offer this).
• Transfer or download the contents, like photos and files you want to keep.
• Close the account once you've saved what you need and confirmed there's no money or recurring billing attached.

What each provider will ask for

Most providers want some combination of: a certified copy of the death certificate, proof you're the executor or next of kin (letters testamentary or a small estate affidavit), and a written request. Keep several certified death certificates on hand, because nearly every institution wants its own copy. The harder cases, especially access to the contents of an email account, can require a court order even when you're the named executor.

Plan ahead so your own family isn't locked out

If reading this has you thinking about your own accounts, a short afternoon now saves your family weeks later. Set up Google Inactive Account Manager, name an Apple Legacy Contact, and pick a Facebook legacy contact. Use a password manager and make sure one trusted person knows how to reach it. Add a line to your will granting your executor authority over your digital assets, and keep a simple list of important accounts somewhere your executor can find it. None of this requires a lawyer, and all of it spares the people you love a real headache.

How Sunset helps

Sunset guides families through the full estate settlement, and digital accounts are one piece of a much bigger picture. We help you find the assets a person left behind, including the financial accounts hiding behind those logins, handle the probate paperwork your state requires, open an FDIC-insured estate account to hold and move money safely, and transfer what's left to the people who inherit it. More than 10,000 families have used Sunset, and it's free to families. If you're staring at a phone full of accounts and no passwords, we can help you figure out what to do next.

Frequently asked questions

Can I access my deceased husband's email account?
It depends on what he set up and what your provider allows. If he named you through a tool like Google Inactive Account Manager, you can request his data directly. If not, you'll go through the provider's deceased-user process with a death certificate and proof you're the executor. Access to the actual message contents is the hardest part and sometimes needs a court order.

Is it illegal to log into a dead person's account with their password?
It can violate the provider's terms of service and, by a strict reading, computer-fraud rules, even when your intentions are good. Families often do it quietly for sentimental accounts. For anything financial, go through the official estate process so your access is documented and defensible.

What is a digital executor?
A digital executor is the person named to handle someone's online accounts and digital assets after death. Some states let you name one directly; in others, your regular executor handles digital assets if your will grants that authority. Naming one and spelling out the authority in your documents is the cleanest way to avoid problems.

Do I need the death certificate to close online accounts?
Almost always, yes. Most providers ask for a certified copy of the death certificate plus proof of your authority over the estate. Order several certified copies up front, because nearly every company wants its own.

What happens to social media accounts when someone dies?
You can usually memorialize them so the profile stays up as a tribute, or request that they be deleted. Facebook and Instagram both offer memorialization, and a named legacy contact can manage the memorialized profile.

Don't tackle the digital pile alone

The accounts, the passwords, and the providers each have their own rules, and it adds up fast when you're already grieving. Sunset walks families through estate settlement from the first account to the last transfer, free of charge. Start with what you can reach, secure the email, make your list, and let us help you handle the rest.