Estate planning as a Facebook account holder
Meta Platforms, Inc. reviews transfer requests for accounts individually upon receipt of documentation
Facebook Help Center
Request to Memorialize or Remove an Account
Facebook is the world's largest social network with over 3 billion monthly active users. A Facebook account can hold personal photos, videos, posts, private messages, ad account balances, Meta Pay balances, Facebook Stars (creator monetization), business pages, and groups. Meta also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, and now unifies those identities through Accounts Center -- but memorialization and deletion decisions are still made per product. Facebook has the most developed death policy among social media platforms, offering both memorialization (with an optional Legacy Contact) and permanent deletion. Private messages are never released to anyone after death, ad account balances have no formal estate recovery process, and Instagram has more restrictive policies than Facebook itself.
After a Facebook account holder dies, Meta Platforms, Inc. may transfer accounts to a designated recipient, but this is handled case by case. The outcome depends on the documentation provided and is entirely at Meta Platforms, Inc.'s discretion.
What happens at death
Facebook offers two options for a deceased user's account: memorialization (the default) or permanent removal. When memorialized, the word "Remembering" appears above the person's name, the profile is preserved for its existing audience, no one can log in, and the account is removed from "People You May Know," birthday reminders, event invites, and ad targeting. A Legacy Contact, if designated in advance, can take limited management actions on the memorialized profile (pinned tribute post, profile and cover photo updates, responding to friend requests, moderating tributes, and -- only if pre-authorized -- downloading a copy of shared content). The Legacy Contact cannot log in, read private messages, remove past posts or friends, or change privacy settings. Verified immediate family or an executor/administrator may request permanent removal instead, and if a Legacy Contact has been set, only that Legacy Contact can request removal. The Meta Terms of Service state that the account is a non-transferable license: users must not "transfer your account to anyone else (without our permission)," and "You will not transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms to anyone else without our consent." Private messages are never released to anyone after death; Meta cites the federal Stored Communications Act.
Brands covered separately
Some Facebook-owned products transfer through their own process and have a dedicated guide:
Planning your estate
Protecting Facebook accounts while the account is active
Beneficiary designation available, lifetime transfer options for accounts, and 9-step plan.
View details →When someone dies
Handling Facebook accounts after a death
Transfer is handled on a case-by-case basis, 8-step process, and 4 required documents.
View details →Frequently asked questions
Instagram (also owned by Meta) is handled separately and is more restrictive than Facebook. It is covered in full on its own page -- see the Instagram estate guide at simplytrust.com/digital-assets/instagram/ for memorialization vs. removal, the proof each requires, and what happens to a creator or business account.
Sources
Data sourced from Meta Platforms, Inc. primary sources (17 pages reviewed). How we research.
Facebook Help Center
Request to Memorialize or Remove an Account
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