Estate planning as a LinkedIn account holder
LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft) reviews transfer requests for accounts individually upon receipt of documentation
LinkedIn Help Center
LinkedIn Deceased Member Requests
Part of the Microsoft Account ecosystem.
LinkedIn is the dominant professional networking platform (owned by Microsoft) with over 1 billion members. A LinkedIn account holds the professional profile, connections, endorsements, recommendations, published articles, messaging history, and any Premium or Sales Navigator subscription. LinkedIn runs its own deceased-member process, separate from Microsoft account requests, with two paths: memorialization (the profile is preserved with a memorialized badge and locked) or closure (the account is closed and the data deleted). LinkedIn does not disclose usernames or passwords to anyone, including family members, and does not document any path for releasing a deceased member's messages or account data to an estate. Premium and Sales Navigator subscriptions are cancelled on memorialization, except subscriptions purchased through Apple. Company Pages can become orphaned if the deceased was the sole admin.
LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft) reviews transfer requests for LinkedIn 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
LinkedIn publishes a deceased-member process with two outcomes. Memorialization preserves the profile with a memorialized badge and locks access; anyone can trigger it by reporting the member as deceased with the member's name, profile URL, and the reporter's relationship to them. Closure requires an authorized representative and court-issued legal documentation, and after the account is marked closed LinkedIn states it "can take up to 30 days to completely delete the data from our system." Nothing about the account transfers to an heir or to the estate: LinkedIn states "We won't disclose any usernames or passwords to anyone, including family members, under any circumstances," and the User Agreement (2.2) forbids members from "shar[ing] or transfer[ring] your account or any part of it." On memorialization, mobile and desktop sessions expire immediately, LinkedIn products are cancelled "(except Apple subscriptions)," and notifications to the member stop within 48 hours. Posts, articles, recommendations, skills, endorsements, and accomplishments stay visible on the memorialized profile. LinkedIn documents no way to release a deceased member's messages, connections, or downloadable account data to a family member or executor.
Planning your estate
Protecting LinkedIn accounts while the account is active
No beneficiary designation, accounts can only be redeemed, not transferred, and 6-step plan.
View details →When someone dies
Handling LinkedIn accounts after a death
Transfer is handled on a case-by-case basis, 8-step process, and 5 required documents.
View details →There is no beneficiary designation option for LinkedIn. This means accounts cannot be directed to a specific person through the program itself, unlike traditional financial accounts.
Frequently asked questions
The User Agreement says that "As between you and others (including your employer), your account belongs to you" -- which settles the employer question, not the inheritance one. The same section forbids sharing or transferring the account, and LinkedIn separately disclaims being a storage service. So the account is yours to use, but it is not property you can hand to someone else during life or leave to someone at death.
Sources
Data sourced from LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft) primary sources (7 pages reviewed). How we research.
LinkedIn Help Center
LinkedIn Deceased Member Requests
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