Can you pass on your Shutterstock account when you die?
A Shutterstock account can pass to the estate after a death. While alive, the account holder can use transferring the account.
Protecting Shutterstock accounts while the account is active
No beneficiary designation, lifetime transfer options for accounts, and 5-step plan.
How to protect your Shutterstock account while you are alive →Someone died. Handling Shutterstock accounts after a death
Accounts can be transferred to the estate, 5-step process, and 4 required documents.
What happens to a Shutterstock account when someone dies →A Shutterstock contributor account holds a portfolio of uploaded photos, vectors, illustrations and videos that earn royalties each time they are licensed. Contributors keep the copyright in their work, and royalty rates run from 15% to 40% based on download volume.
Shutterstock's terms allow a Shutterstock account to pass to the estate after the holder dies. While the account holder is alive, Shutterstock allows transferring the account.
What happens to Shutterstock at death
- Transferable to estate
Shutterstock honors the instructions of estate representatives worldwide. Its help center says it transfers all content and earnings to a beneficiary, for example one named in a will reviewed and approved by a lawyer or notary public.1
Naming who acts after a death
- Designation
Shutterstock offers no beneficiary designation on the contributor account. Its help center points to a will, reviewed and approved by a lawyer, that names the beneficiary of the portfolio.1
Shutterstock publishes its own process for a deceased person's account: Account transfer after a contributor's death; a written request goes in through Shutterstock's support ticket system. There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on a Shutterstock account.
Sources
Data sourced from Shutterstock, Inc. primary sources (11 pages reviewed). How we research.
Shutterstock customer support
Shutterstock Contributor Support
Website
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