Estate planning as a ChatGPT account holder

ChatGPT is the world's most popular AI assistant. An OpenAI account holds conversation history, custom GPTs (AI tools built by the user), uploaded knowledge files, API credits, and potentially GPT Store revenue. As of July 2026 the consumer plan ladder is Free, Go ($8/mo), Plus ($20/mo), and Pro (offered as two tiers, $100/mo and $200/mo); the team-oriented plans are Business ($20/user/mo annual or $25/user/mo monthly, 2-user minimum) and Enterprise (custom). OpenAI has NO published bereavement policy, no account transfer mechanism, and no legacy contact feature on any tier. The critical estate concern: custom GPTs become read-only when a paid subscription is cancelled (they remain usable but can no longer be edited and new ones cannot be created), API credits expire 1 year from purchase and are non-refundable, and conversation history is permanently deleted within 30 days of account deletion.

When a ChatGPT account holder dies, their accounts are forfeited. The program's terms state that accounts do not constitute property of the account holder and cannot be transferred upon death, by operation of law, or through estate planning documents.

What happens at death

OpenAI has no published bereavement or deceased user policy as of July 2026. The Terms of Use contain no provisions addressing death, succession, inheritance, or estate access -- what they do say is that "You may not assign or transfer any rights or obligations under these Terms and any attempt to do so will be void," and that an OpenAI account is meant for the individual who created it. ChatGPT subscriptions on every consumer tier (Go, Plus, Pro) cannot be transferred between accounts -- OpenAI explicitly states subscriptions cannot be transferred (including mobile subscriptions bought through the App Store or Google Play) and that you must cancel on the current account and resubscribe from the desired account. A paid subscription auto-renews each billing period until it is cancelled, so an unattended account keeps charging the decedent's card; deleting the account automatically cancels the subscription. When a paid subscription is cancelled, custom GPTs become read-only: the help center states you can still use the GPTs you created but can no longer edit them or create new ones. API and ChatGPT Service Credits are non-transferable, non-refundable, and expire one year from purchase or issuance. Deleted accounts are permanently purged within 30 days; the email address can be reused after the 30-day window, but the deleted account still counts against OpenAI's 3-accounts-per-phone-number limit. OpenAI publishes no estate intake and no fiduciary access path; the closest published channel is its privacy-rights intake (privacy.openai.com or dsar@openai.com), where an authorized agent must present authority to act, such as signed written permission -- a channel written for living data subjects, so anything it does for an estate is discretionary.