Estate planning as a Peloton account holder

Peloton sells connected-fitness equipment (the Bike, Bike+, Tread, and Row) and runs the subscriptions that unlock its classes. The All-Access Membership is tied to one household at a single residential address and is required to use the equipment; the separate App Membership is a single-user subscription that works on phones, tablets, and the web without Peloton hardware. The estate-relevant pieces split three ways: the recurring membership (which auto-bills until cancelled), the account profile and workout history (account-bound), and the physical equipment (a tangible asset that passes through the estate). A family member who keeps a Bike, Bike+, Tread, or Row must set up their own Peloton account and All-Access Membership to use it; the deceased member's membership does not transfer with the device.

When a Peloton account holder dies, their accounts are forfeited. The program's terms state that accounts do not constitute property of the account holder and cannot be transferred upon death, by operation of law, or through estate planning documents.

What happens at death

A Peloton membership does not transfer to anyone at death. The Peloton Membership Terms state that Activation Codes "may not be assigned, transferred, traded, or pledged to any third party" and "cannot be transferred by operation of law, such as by inheritance, in bankruptcy, or in connection with a divorce." Because a Peloton Membership cycle "recurs on a monthly or annual basis, as applicable, until it is canceled," an unmanaged All-Access or App Membership keeps charging the deceased member's payment method until a survivor cancels it. The physical equipment (Bike, Bike+, Tread, or Row) is different: it is tangible property that passes through the estate like any other personal property. A family member who keeps the equipment, however, cannot inherit the deceased member's membership along with it — they must set up their own Peloton account and All-Access Membership to use the device. Peloton documents this as part of activating used equipment: the previous owner factory-resets the device, and the new owner signs in to (or creates) their own account, starts their own All-Access Membership, and completes used-equipment activation. The deceased member's profile and workout history remain attached to the deceased member's account, not the equipment, so a survivor who wants to preserve that history should download the workout data from the account before it is closed.