What happens to HBO Max accounts when the owner dies

The account itself cannot. Section 3.2 of the Terms of Use grants a limited, revocable, non-transferrable license for personal, non-commercial use, and the closing assignment clause states that rights and obligations under the agreement are non-transferrable. A profile is a different question: HBO Max publishes a feature that copies an Adult profile — avatar, watch history, My List, PIN, settings, and recommendations — into a new or existing HBO Max account. It only runs while the account holding the profile still has an active subscription, so a survivor who wants it has to ask before the subscription is cancelled. HBO Max decides whether to accommodate the request.

Profile data is lost when the account is closed, but it does not have to be. HBO Max supports transferring an Adult profile to another HBO Max account, which carries over the avatar, watch history, My List, PIN, settings, and recommendations. The conditions are published: the source account must still have an active subscription, both accounts must be in the same country or region, and the destination account must have fewer than five profiles. Kids profiles cannot be transferred. Once the subscription ends, the transfer is no longer available and the profile data goes with the account.

Not as a matter of right. Section 2.4 of the Terms of Use states that subscription fees are non-refundable and that HBO Max does not provide refunds, credit, or prorated billing for cancelled subscriptions, and the help center repeats that there is a no-refund policy for subscriptions billed through WarnerMedia Direct. The same clause adds that a Subscription Provider "may choose to offer refunds, discounts or other consideration as a discretionary accommodation," so the estate can ask. One refund is documented rather than discretionary: if there is remaining time on an Extra Member Add-On when the base plan expires, the account owner gets a prorated refund for the remaining days. One-Time Purchases are non-refundable. Where the subscription is billed through a third party, that provider's refund policy governs.

Access ends with the subscription. Section 2.2 of the Terms of Use provides for One-Time Purchases — pay-per-view events and other content outside the subscription — states that they are non-refundable, and states that if the subscription is cancelled, paused, or otherwise terminated for any reason, access to that content is lost. The Terms are explicit that the content is licensed, not sold. What the estate can still get is the record: the charges are billed separately from the base plan, so an executor should ask HBO Max for the billing and purchase history before the account is closed, both to explain unfamiliar charges and to complete the estate inventory.

Access continues until the subscription is cancelled and the current billing period ends. After that, each person needs their own HBO Max subscription. Extra Member accounts tied to the primary plan also lose access when the base plan expires, though the account owner receives a prorated refund for any remaining days on the add-on. A survivor who wants to keep a profile should ask about a profile transfer before the subscription is cancelled, because the transfer only runs while the source account is active.

No. HBO Max publishes no dedicated bereavement page and no formal estate claims process, and its US Privacy Policy describes no deceased-user or authorized-agent route. General customer support handles deceased account holder requests, through support@HBOMax.com, the 1-855-442-6629 line, or the Contact Us control at help.hbomax.com. Be prepared to provide a death certificate and proof of authority to act on behalf of the deceased.