What happens to a Shopify account when someone dies

“All the terms and provisions of the Terms of Service will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties to the Terms of Service and to their respective heirs, successors, permitted assigns and legal representatives.”¹

Shopify replies to the Can't log in form by email within 48 hours.²

Chat with Shopify Support requires signing in to a store, and the Can't log in form creates no Support Inbox ticket. Phone and email support are for Shopify Plus and Retail plan stores, and Shopify Support makes no outbound calls.³

Each store has a single contracting store owner: "Your Shopify Store can only be associated with one Store Owner."¹

The account holder may not assign or transfer the Terms, or any rights or obligations under them, to any third party without Shopify's prior written consent, which Shopify gives or withholds in its sole discretion.¹

Only the store owner can deactivate a store from the Shopify admin, and Shopify Support will not deactivate a store for anyone.⁴

Subscription fees bill every 30 days. If payment fails for 28 days after the first attempt, Shopify may suspend access to the account, and if fees stay unpaid 60 days after suspension it may terminate the account.¹

On the Pause and Build plan all apps stay active and keep charging until each one is cancelled. Cancelling the plan uninstalls all apps and charges pending app usage, transaction and shipping label charges.^{5, 6}

After deactivation, invoices can still arrive for third-party charges such as externally billed apps and domains, and for chargebacks. Contesting a chargeback requires reactivating the store.⁶

A switch to the Pause and Build plan takes effect at the end of the billing cycle, and the store keeps accepting orders until then; private mode stops customers reaching the storefront or completing orders in the meantime.⁵

The Pause and Build plan costs $9 USD per month and turns checkout off on every sales channel while the admin stays accessible. Only the store owner can select it.^{7, 5}

A transfer of store ownership is followed by updating the store's contact details, billing, payout bank account, Shopify Payments tax details and domain contact information to the new owner.⁸

Pending Shopify Payments payouts keep being processed after deactivation and are sent to the bank account on file. If one fails after deactivation, there is no admin access to fix it until the store is reactivated.⁶

A bank rejects a payout to a closed account, and a payout failure can lead to an immediate payout hold or a hold after repeated failures. Only the store owner can access Shopify Payments account details and resolve a hold.^{9, 10}

When a creditor serves legal notice, the payment processor places a hold that Shopify cannot remove; only the processor can release it, after receiving a release from the creditor.¹⁰

On termination, funds in the financial services provider's custody "will be paid out to you subject to the Payment Processor Terms," and the Shopify Payments Terms bind the merchant's "heirs, representatives, and permitted and approved successors."¹¹

Shopify says it is not a bank: Shopify Balance money transmission and account services come through Stripe Payments Company, with funds held at Fifth Third Bank N.A.¹²

Deactivating or freezing a store disconnects its custom domains. Domain renewals are not cancelled when the store is, so a domain that renews before the store closes can still be charged.^{4, 6}

Shopify-purchased domains renew each year while the account stays active. After termination a Shopify-purchased domain no longer auto-renews, and handling it with the domain provider becomes the owner's responsibility.¹

A Shopify-managed domain can be transferred to another provider while the store is paused, deactivated or frozen, without paying an outstanding invoice. Domains ending in .nz or .uk need Shopify Support to start the transfer.¹³

A generic domain such as .com is eligible to transfer 60 days after it was bought, transferred to Shopify or had its contact details changed. A transfer can take up to 7 days, and one not completed within 30 days locks again.¹³

Shopify's HSTS policy stays in effect on a domain for 90 days after the store is deactivated.⁴

After deactivation, store information is kept for 2 years in case the store reopens, and account credits stay available for 60 days.^{4, 6}

Only the store owner can request deletion of a deactivated store's customer data. Data is deleted within 14 days after the request is completed, cannot be recovered, and the store cannot be reopened.⁶

A purchased theme is licensed only to the store it was bought for; Shopify Support can transfer the license to another Shopify store the same owner owns.⁴