How to protect your Apple TV account while you are alive
There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on an Apple TV account. While the account holder is alive, Apple allows family pooling.
Because Apple's terms close an Apple TV account at death, anything kept from it is exported, moved or handed over while the holder is alive. There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on an Apple TV account. While the account holder is alive, Apple allows family pooling.
How to protect your Apple TV accounts
Naming who acts after a death
- Designation
There is no way to name who receives the Apple TV subscription or the purchased library. A Legacy Contact set up on the Apple Account cannot access purchased content or subscriptions.1
What Apple Inc.'s terms say about sharing and transfers3
- Fees
Apple prices the Apple TV subscription at $14.99 per month after a free 7-day trial, and the plan automatically renews until cancelled.2
- Family plans and household sharing
Up to six people can share one Apple TV subscription, the subscriber included.2
Purchase Sharing lets eligible content be shared among up to six members of a Family. Not all content is eligible, including in-app purchases, subscriptions and some previously acquired apps.3
Movies and TV shows from the Store in the Apple TV app can be shared with a family, but items no longer available in the Apple TV app and purchases a family member has hidden cannot.4
When a Family member leaves or is removed, the remaining members may no longer be able to access that member's content, including content acquired with the Organizer's payment method.3
If the purchaser of shared content and services leaves the family group, the group loses access to that content or those services.5
- Exporting and backing up data
The account holder can view purchase history for the App Store and other Apple media services, including the Apple TV app, by signing in at reportaproblem.apple.com or from the Apple TV app on a device.6
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Sources
Data sourced from Apple Inc. primary sources (12 pages reviewed). How we research.
Apple TV customer support
Apple Support
Phone
Website
More from Apple
Is this your situation?
Get a complete guide for your specific circumstances.
New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Learn more
Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
Learn more
New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
Learn more
Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
Learn moreForms for Planning Your Estate
Free forms for planning your estate: a will, living trust, pour-over will, both powers of attorney, living will, and TOD deed.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
Name your heirs, guardians, and final wishes. Free for every state.
Codicil to a Will
Add, revoke or replace provisions of your will and republish the rest, signed as your state requires for a will.
Tools for Planning Your Estate
Free tools for planning your estate: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.
How Much Does a Revocable Living Trust Cost?
Compare revocable living trust costs across providers including online services and attorneys.
How Does SimplyTrust Compare to LegalZoom, Trust & Will, and Other Services?
Compare what it costs to make a trust official across SimplyTrust, LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Rocket Lawyer, and Quicken WillMaker.
Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Find out if a revocable trust makes sense based on your state, estate value, and family situation.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
Compare the cost of probate vs a trust for your state and estate value.
How Much Is the Federal Gift Tax?
Whether a gift owes federal gift tax, how much of the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption it uses, and whether Form 709 is due.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
Compare costs across estate planning providers including online services and attorneys.
