Can you pass on your Google account when you die?
Google reviews requests about a Google account after a death case by case.
Protecting Google accounts while the account is active
Beneficiary designation available, accounts can only be redeemed, not transferred, and 7-step plan.
How to protect your Google account while you are alive →Someone died. Handling Google accounts after a death
Transfer is handled on a case-by-case basis, 6-step process, and 4 required documents.
What happens to a Google account when someone dies →A Google Account holds Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, YouTube channels, Google Play purchases, Google One storage, Google Fi phone service, Google Ads balances and Google Workspace business accounts under one sign-in, which makes it one of the most sprawling digital assets a person can hold.
Google decides what happens to a Google account after a death case by case; its terms promise no transfer. Google allows no transfer of the account while the holder is alive.
What happens to Google at death
- Case by case
Google works with immediate family members and representatives to close a deceased person's account, and in certain circumstances provides content from it, after a case-by-case review.1
Naming who acts after a death
- Inactive Account Manager
Inactive Account Manager lets the account holder choose up to 10 people to receive selected account data after the account has been inactive for a period the holder sets, up to 18 months, and can delete the account after that period.2, 3
Other companies and product lines involved3
- Google Legal Support, AdSense Support
Heir documentation for accrued AdSense earnings, by upload, fax or mail4
Fax: 1-650-618-8507
Mailing address: Google, Inc., Attn: Google Legal Support, AdSense Support, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
- Google Fi support
Cancelling a deceased subscriber's phone service or porting the number out5
Google publishes its own process for a deceased person's account: Submit a request regarding a deceased user's account (Google troubleshooter); a request goes in through Google's online form. Google lets the account holder name, in advance, who may act on the account after a death, through Inactive Account Manager.
Sources
Data sourced from Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.) primary sources (9 pages reviewed). How we research.
Google customer support
Google Account Help
Website
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