Estate planning as a GitHub account holder
GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft) reviews transfer requests for accounts individually upon receipt of documentation
OverviewWhen someone dies
GitHub Support
WebsiteVisit website→
GitHub Deceased User Policy
WebsiteSubmit claim online →
Verified May 2026
GitHub is the world's largest source code hosting platform, owned by Microsoft and used by over 100 million developers. A GitHub account can hold repositories (public and private), GitHub Pages websites, GitHub Actions workflows with secrets and environment variables, GitHub Packages and container images, Codespaces cloud development environments, SSH/GPG keys, personal access tokens, OAuth apps, and GitHub Sponsors monetization. Organization accounts add shared repositories, teams, and enterprise-level access controls. GitHub is one of the few platforms in this directory with a formal, published Deceased User Policy and a built-in Successor Settings feature that lets members pre-designate another GitHub user to archive or transfer their public repositories.
After a GitHub account holder dies, GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft) 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 GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft)'s discretion.
GitHub supports transferring accounts to another person during the account holder's lifetime.
What happens at death
GitHub has a formal Deceased User Policy published at docs.github.com. An authorized individual -- next of kin, a pre-designated successor, or another authorized person such as a collaborator or business partner -- can contact GitHub Support through the support portal and request action on the deceased user's account. GitHub may request a copy of photo identification, a death certificate, and documentation confirming the requestor is authorized to act in relation to the account. GitHub reviews each request individually; privacy obligations and legal requirements may limit what actions GitHub will take. Separately, GitHub offers a Successor Settings feature (Settings > Account > Successor settings) that allows a user to pre-designate another GitHub user as their successor. An appointed successor can archive public repositories and transfer public repositories to their own account or to an organization where they can create repositories. Successors cannot log into the deceased user's account and cannot access private repositories.
How to protect your GitHub accounts
GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft) does not guarantee transfer of accounts after death. Lifetime planning provides options for managing accounts and controlling who has access to them.
8 lifetime planning steps for your GitHub accounts:
1
Designate a successor in Settings > Account > Successor settings (https://github.com/settings/account). The invited user must have a GitHub account and will appear as "Pending" until they accept. This is the single most important step for any active GitHub user; without a successor, the estate must request action case-by-case through the Deceased User Policy.
2
Move critical code into a GitHub Organization and ensure the organization has at least two owners. Successors cannot access private repositories on a personal account, and organizations with only one owner can become orphaned if that owner dies. Promote a trusted collaborator to owner status now.
3
Clone all important repositories locally and back up to external storage. Git repositories are self-contained and can be pushed to any other hosting service (GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted Gitea). This provides a recovery path that does not depend on GitHub granting account access.
4
Document the GitHub account username, the email address associated with the account, and the recovery method (authenticator app, hardware key, SMS number) in your digital asset inventory so your executor can attempt sign-in or recovery before invoking the Deceased User Policy.
5
For GitHub Pages sites, keep the source repository inside an Organization where other members have commit access. Pages are served from repositories, so if a personal account is deleted and its repositories go with it, the Pages site also goes offline.
6
Push all work from Codespaces to repositories regularly. Codespaces auto-delete after 30 days of inactivity by default, and GitHub retains a Codespace for only 7 days after a user loses access to it. Uncommitted work is permanently lost.
7
If you receive money through GitHub Sponsors, keep records of Stripe payout history and any accrued unpaid balance. There is no automated succession for Sponsors payouts; the estate will need to work with GitHub Support and Stripe to resolve outstanding amounts.
8
Revoke or rotate personal access tokens, OAuth apps, and SSH/GPG keys periodically, and document which tokens power critical automations so the estate can disable or replace them before billing or security issues compound.
Family sharing
GitHub Successor Settings (https://github.com/settings/account) lets a member designate another GitHub user as their successor. The invited successor must accept the invitation and appears as "Pending" until they do. After the member's death, the successor presents either a death certificate (7-day waiting period) or an obituary (21-day waiting period) to GitHub Support, and can then archive public repositories or transfer them to their own account or to an organization. For Organizations, GitHub recommends maintaining at least two owners at all times so the organization can be administered if one owner dies. Organization owners have complete administrative access; billing managers can manage payment but not repositories; members have default non-admin access. Repository-level roles (Read, Triage, Write, Maintain, Admin) provide granular collaborator access during life.
When someone dies
Handling GitHub accounts after a death
Transfer is handled on a case-by-case basis, 8-step process, and 4 required documents.
View details →GitHub does not support beneficiary designations. Unlike bank accounts or investment accounts, there is no way to formally name a beneficiary on this type of account.
Frequently asked questions
Go to Settings > Account > Successor settings (https://github.com/settings/account) and invite another GitHub user. The invited user must have a GitHub account of their own and will appear as "Pending" until they accept. Successors cannot be set on a per-repository or per-organization basis; the setting is account-wide.
Yes. Anyone can clone or fork a public repository at any time. Existing forks survive account deletion, and for popular public repos (100+ clones or Actions uses), GitHub retires the owner/repo name to prevent impersonation and the oldest active public fork becomes the new upstream repository.
There is no automated succession for GitHub Sponsors payouts. Accrued but unpaid earnings require the estate to work with GitHub Support, and possibly with Stripe (GitHub's payout processor), on a case-by-case basis. Keep records of Stripe payout history and any outstanding balance in your digital asset inventory.
Sources
Data sourced from GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft) primary sources (8 pages reviewed). How we research.
GitHub Support
WebsiteVisit website→
GitHub Deceased User Policy
WebsiteSubmit claim online →
Verified May 2026
