What happens to a Netflix account when someone dies
Netflix publishes its own process for a deceased person's account; a written request goes in through Netflix's support ticket system.
Under Netflix's terms, a Netflix account closes when the holder dies and nothing in it passes to anyone.
Netflix publishes its own process for a deceased person's account: How to cancel an account for a deceased Netflix member; a written request goes in through Netflix's support ticket system. The request takes 5 documents.
What to do
- •With access to the account, request them at netflix.com/account/getmyinfo. They take up to 30 days.
- •Without access, send an authorized-agent request to privacy@netflix.com with a statement that the executor is authorized to act.
- •With access, use Cancel Membership on the Account page, then sign out of all devices.
- •Without access, gather the account email or phone number and the full current payment information, then contact Netflix.
Required Documents
- Account email address or phone number: if the account is not accessible
- Full payment information currently used to pay for Netflix: if the account is not accessible
- Statement that the agent is authorized to act on the account owner's behalf: for an authorized-agent privacy request. Netflix may ask for more to verify identity.
- Letters testamentary or an equivalent appointment order: if a discretionary balance-refund request is made. No Netflix page requires it; it evidences an executor's authority.
- Death certificate: if a discretionary balance-refund request is made. No Netflix page requires it; it evidences an executor's authority.
Timeline
A personal-information request takes up to 30 days from the date Netflix verifies it.
What Netflix, Inc.'s terms say at death
- Section 1.8
“Subject to these Terms and only to the extent you are expressly authorised, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access the Netflix service. Except for the foregoing, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you.”1
What Netflix, Inc. says happens9
- Closing the account
Netflix's deceased-member process covers cancellation only. With access to the account, Cancel Membership on the Account page ends it; without access, Netflix asks for the account email or phone number and the full current payment information through its contact page.2
Extra Members, a paid add-on, lose access when the primary account closes.2
- Verifying the requester
Netflix requires no formal documentation to cancel a deceased member's account.2
- Subscriptions and billing
Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle.2
Where Netflix is billed through Apple, Google, a TV provider or another partner, cancelling Netflix alone does not stop the third-party biller.2
If the subscription is cancelled while a Netflix Balance remains, it is cancelled only after the balance has been completely consumed, and no funds can be added in that period.3
- Balances, payouts and refunds
A redeemed gift card becomes a Netflix Balance, capped at $500, that stays on the account. It is not refundable or redeemable for cash, except where the mandatory laws of the member's country of residence give a refund.3
Payments to Netflix are nonrefundable, with no refunds or credits for partially used subscription periods.1
- How requests are reviewed
Section 2.8 of the Terms of Use lets Netflix provide a refund, discount or other consideration to some or all members at any time and for any reason, at its sole and absolute discretion.1
- Deletion and data retention
Netflix keeps the account's Viewing Activity, recommendations, ratings, account details, gameplay history and game saves for 24 months after the account closes.4
- Restoring a deleted account
The account can be restarted within 24 months of closing, with its retained data available.4
- Purchased content and licenses
Netflix is a paid streaming subscription with no owned media library, and downloaded titles on devices stop working once the account closes.2
- Disclosure of account content
The personal information Netflix holds includes payment and billing information: the payment details provided and the charges Netflix has made or attempted to make to the payment method.5
Under the Privacy Statement, an authorized agent can submit a request on a member's behalf to privacy@netflix.com, with a statement certifying as may be required that the agent is authorized to act.6
Not in Netflix's published guidance9
- A mailing address for a written request
- A phone number for this
- Whether a certified death certificate is required
- A terms clause on death, inheritance or account succession
- A timeline for a discretionary refund decision
- A way to keep downloaded titles after the account closes
- Proof asked for a balance refund or records request
- Whether the 24-month retention applies to every account type
- A channel to disclose account content to a representative
A written request to Netflix can ask it to refund an unspent balance, transfer the accounts to a named family member, provide purchase and transaction records for the estate inventory, close the account and preserve the account while the estate is opened.
Nothing in the account survives the holder, and Netflix allows no lifetime transfer of it either.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter for Netflix drafts that request from the estate's details.
Sources
Data sourced from Netflix, Inc. primary sources (9 pages reviewed). How we research.
Netflix estate claims
Netflix Help Center
Website
Estate requests go through general customer service.
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Forms for Settling an Estate
Free forms for settling an estate: the probate petition, small estate affidavit, notice to creditors, inventory, and closing forms.
Affidavit of Death
Put a joint owner's or a transfer on death deed owner's death on the land records with the affidavit your state's statute names, laid out for recording.
IRS Form 56
Notify the IRS that you are the fiduciary of an estate, a trust or a person, or end a notice filed before, on the official form.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter
Prepare a letter requesting a deceased person's online accounts, points, and balances from the program that holds them.
Petition for Probate and Letters
Open probate and ask the court to appoint you and issue Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Notice to Creditors
Notify estate creditors and start the claim period — the published notice plus mailed copies for known creditors.
Renunciation of Executor
Decline an appointment as executor named in a will — the writing filed with the court before anyone is appointed.
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