Different email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook have their own procedures and protocols for dealing with inactive accounts. Some have a straightforward system for the next of kin to access selected contents of their loved one’s email, while others make it more difficult. Should you need to access from an email provider, gather requested documents accordingly, and mentally prepare for what you may find in this part of your loved one’s life.

Dealing with your loved one’s email

As you sort through your loved one’s accounts, you’ll have to decide which to keep open, which to transfer to someone else, and which to close completely. While bank accounts will pass to beneficiaries, credit card and other loan accounts should be closed. Close most memberships and subscriptions, but you may want to leave some utilities, email, and social media accounts open.

Which accounts to keep and which to close

Canceling your loved one’s credit cards is an essential part of settling their financial affairs. This task should be taken care of quickly so as to avoid fees and unwanted charges, legal repercussions, and even identity theft. Getting organized and gathering necessary information (i.e., usernames and passwords), identifying joint account holders and authorized users, and reaching out to the credit card companies to close the accounts are the basic steps to take when moving through this process.

Canceling your loved one’s credit cards

Many people pass away with an active online presence. Your loved one may have left you to decide what to do with their social media account(s). Some people choose to keep or memorialize pages, while others feel more comfortable deleting their loved one’s online presence altogether. Regardless of which route you take, it is important to mentally and emotionally prepare for the mixture of feelings this task may elicit. Have a conversation with your family and friends and consider what your loved one would have wanted to happen with their digital legacy.

Dealing with a loved one’s social media accounts

When going through your loved one's digital affairs, you will need to figure out how to locate all of their accounts and close or transfer each one. Before you close anything, however, you will want to make sure to preserve the most valuable data. Get step-by-step instructions on how to locate the right info, how to download copies, and where to keep it so that it never gets lost.

Saving data when closing accounts

Managing accounts after a loss

Gaining access to online accounts can be very simple, if you have access to their computer or their phone. There are several ways to try to get into these, including finding passwords and enlisting the services of a computer technician. You might also try guessing, especially for a phone passcode. Otherwise you may have to petition the court to tell the technology company to give you access, which doesn't always work.

Gaining access to your loved one’s digital accounts

Like most of us, your loved one probably had dozens of accounts, memberships, and subscriptions that will now need to be canceled. This can be a big job, but with some organization and a bit of investigative work, it shouldn't prove a big challenge. If you have access to their email, you probably have everything you need. Make sure to compile a list of every account you think they might have had. Monitor their mail and talk to their lawyer or accountant. With a bit of digging, you will find them all.

Looking for your loved one’s accounts

An important part of managing your loved one's estate will be handling the assets in their bank accounts: securing them, transferring them into an account for probate, and eventually distributing them to creditors and beneficiaries. Non-probate accounts, such as jointly owned accounts with right of survivorship or payable-on-death accounts, can be accessed by the beneficiaries directly. For accounts that will go through probate, the executor should contact the bank, and will be able to transfer them into a probate checking account once one is opened.

Managing Accounts

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