Estate planning as a Google Ads account holder

Google Ads is the advertising platform a person uses to run search, display, video, and shopping campaigns. It is not a separate login: a Google Ads account is created under, and signs in with, the owner's Google Account, so it is governed by Google's deceased-user request process rather than its own. The estate-relevant assets are any remaining prepaid ad balance (or an automatic-payments credit not yet spent), the live campaigns that keep showing ads and billing the payment method until someone pauses them, and the account's campaign, audience, and conversion data. Heavy advertisers and agencies often hold a manager (MCC) account that sits above multiple linked Google Ads accounts. Google does not transfer account access to anyone after death; the estate's practical concerns are stopping the spend and recovering any remaining balance.

Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.) reviews transfer requests for Google Ads accounts on a case-by-case basis after the account holder's death. Approval is at the company's sole discretion, and documentation requirements must be met before any transfer is considered.

What happens at death

Because a Google Ads account lives inside the owner's Google Account, there is no separate Google Ads bereavement process. Post-death requests run through the same Google deceased-user troubleshooter, which offers three options: close the account, request funds from the account, or obtain content from the account. Each request is reviewed individually, and Google will not provide passwords or other login credentials. The "request funds from the account" path is how an estate recovers money tied to a deceased user's Google services, including a remaining Google Ads balance. Separately, when a Google Ads account is canceled, Google states it will automatically initiate a refund for any unused prepaid funds or other refundable credits to the original payment method; promotional credit is excluded and is not refundable. The account itself is not transferable to another person. Critically, nothing about a death stops the advertising: campaigns keep showing ads and billing the payment method on file until the campaigns are paused or the account is canceled (or the payment method fails), so the estate's first practical step is to stop the spend.