What Happens to Online Accounts When You Die?

When someone signs up to an online service, whether it is a streaming platform, an online retailer, or a gaming account, they accept a set of terms and conditions that grant them a personal licence to use the service. This licence usually cannot be transferred, sold, or left to someone else, and it typically ends when the account holder dies, regardless of what the account contains or how much it was used.

This is quite different from how most people intuitively think about their digital footprint. A large game library, a well-curated streaming watchlist, or years of accumulated loyalty points can feel like something that should simply pass to a family member, but the underlying agreement with the provider usually says otherwise, and different providers take different approaches to what happens next.

Even where the account itself ends, some providers will allow the estate to claim any monetary value held within it, such as an unused account balance, a refund for a subscription paid in advance, or loyalty points that can be converted or redeemed. This is not guaranteed and depends entirely on the individual provider's own policy, so it is worth checking directly rather than assuming either that nothing can be claimed or that everything automatically can be.

Executors dealing with an estate should treat significant online accounts in the same practical way as any other asset, by identifying what exists, contacting the provider with evidence of death and their authority to act, and asking specifically what can be released or claimed. This is more time consuming than dealing with a single bank account, simply because there may be many providers involved, each with a different process.

For many everyday accounts, the practical goal is simply to cancel the service and stop any ongoing payments, rather than to transfer or access the account in any meaningful sense. Subscription services in particular can continue billing a card linked to the deceased for some time if nobody notifies the provider, so this is often one of the more urgent tasks facing whoever is dealing with the estate in the early weeks.

Where an account has no ongoing cost and no significant value attached, it is often reasonable simply to leave it and let it lapse naturally through inactivity, rather than spending time pursuing every minor account. Executors should use judgement about which accounts are worth the effort of formally closing or claiming against, focusing on those with real financial value or ongoing costs.

It is worth repeating a point that applies across almost every type of online account, which is that accessing someone's account without proper authority, even using a password that is already known, can potentially amount to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. This applies regardless of good intentions, and it is not automatically excused simply because the account holder has died.

The safer approach is always to contact the provider directly, explain that the account holder has died, and follow whatever process the provider has for dealing with a deceased customer's account. This protects both the family and the provider, and it avoids the account being flagged for suspicious activity, which can sometimes make matters worse rather than better.

The single most useful thing anyone can do to make their online accounts manageable after death is to keep a current, organised record of what accounts exist, without necessarily including the passwords themselves in that record if it is not stored securely. A password manager with a master password known to a trusted person, or a securely stored written note, works far better than trying to remember which of dozens of accounts matter.

A will should appoint clear executors who have the general authority to deal with the estate, but it should not attempt to list every online account or include any passwords, since it becomes a public document once probate has been granted. Keeping the practical detail separate, and reviewing it periodically as accounts change, is the most effective long-term approach.