How to protect your Substack account while you are alive

There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on a Substack account; a publication changes owner only through a transfer the living writer starts.^{1, 2}

A living writer transfers a publication from Settings > Danger Zone > Transfer ownership by sending a transfer request to the recipient's email; both confirm by email, and the status shows Pending until accepted.¹

The recipient's confirmation email expires after 6 hours, after which a new request is needed; after the transfer the new owner has full administrative control, including settings, subscribers and billing.¹

The Terms of Use bar transferring the account to anyone else without Substack's prior written permission.³

From Settings > Team a writer can add an Admin, with full access to the publication and Settings; a Contributor, who can view, edit and publish drafts without access to Settings or Stats; or a Byline, listed as an author with no access to Posts or Settings.⁴

An Admin keeps the publication running without changing ownership. Payout bank details are managed in Stripe, not Substack, so Admin access to Substack does not move the writer's Stripe account.^{4, 5}

Settings > Exports > Create new export produces a zip of the posts, subscriber list and related statistics.⁶

The Subscribers page exports the subscriber list as a .csv file.⁷

A subscription invoice report, requested from Settings > Payments > Advanced, breaks down fees, currency and plan type per subscriber.⁸

Substack charges 10% when a writer adds paid subscriptions, and Stripe charges a credit card fee and a billing fee.⁵