Estate planning as a Audible account holder

Audible is Amazon's audiobook service: a personal library of purchased audiobooks, a membership that grants monthly credits, and downloadable audiobook files. Audible content is licensed, not owned — Audible's License grants only a "limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license" to access purchased content, so the library cannot be inherited or moved to another account. Membership benefits are non-transferable, and credits have no cash value, are non-refundable, expire 12 months after they are issued, and expire immediately when a membership is cancelled. Cancelling the membership does not by itself end access to purchased titles — the Conditions of Use state that "cancellation does not terminate your license and access to purchased content" — but closing the Amazon account does. An Audible account is an Amazon account, so a deceased member's account is handled through Amazon Bereavement support, which takes documents by email.

Under Audible's terms, accounts are not property of the account holder and are forfeited when the account closes at death. No estate planning document—will, trust, or otherwise—can override this forfeiture.

What happens at death

Audible content is licensed, not owned. Audible's License grants only a "limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and make personal and non-commercial use of the purchased content," and states that all rights not expressly granted are reserved and retained by Audible or its licensors. The library cannot be inherited, sold, or moved to another account. Audible's Conditions of Use state "You may not transfer or assign your membership or any Service benefits," and that "Credits may only be redeemed on the Service, have no cash value, are non-transferrable and non-refundable." Credits expire 12 months after they are issued and "expire immediately upon the cancellation or termination of your membership unless used prior to cancellation or termination" (credits issued through the App Store or Google Play are the exception and do not expire). Cancelling the membership does not by itself terminate access to purchased titles — the Conditions of Use state that "cancellation does not terminate your license and access to purchased content" — so the library survives a cancellation, but it ends with the account, and there is no mechanism to pass it to an heir. Because an Audible account is an Amazon account, the deceased member's account is handled through Amazon Bereavement support.