What happens to Udemy revenue when the owner dies
Udemy, Inc. has a formal process for transferring revenue after an account holder dies
Udemy Support
Udemy Support (no dedicated estate or deceased-instructor channel; use the general Contact Us flow)
Udemy publishes no timeline for handling a deceased instructor's account or paying an outstanding balance to an estate, so timing depends on Udemy Support. For context on the normal payout cycle: Udemy pays instructors monthly after the 30-day refund period ends, and payment is made within 45 days of the end of the month in which the course fee was received. Effective September 1, 2025, Udemy only processes a payout once the instructor balance reaches $25 USD; amounts below that are held until the balance reaches $25 USD or the end of the calendar year in which they were earned, whichever comes first.
Udemy does not publish a dedicated process for a deceased instructor's account, courses, or unpaid revenue, so the estate side is handled case-by-case through Udemy Support. The instructor revenue itself is a real, recoverable asset: Udemy pays instructors a revenue share monthly, and its own closure rules state that an account cannot be closed until the last scheduled payout is sent, which confirms unpaid revenue is money owed to the account rather than something forfeited. Because Udemy publishes no estate-claims workflow, an executor must contact Udemy Support directly to ask how the outstanding balance can be paid out and how the published courses and account are handled. Udemy accounts are not transferable; on account deletion, personal data is deleted or anonymized while payment-transaction records are retained for legal reasons. The student side is different: a student's purchased courses are granted under a "limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license" in the Terms of Use, and content cannot be transferred or resold, so purchased courses are forfeited at death and cannot pass to an heir.
How to request a transfer
Follow these steps to initiate a transfer of Udemy revenue after the account holder's death:
- •The email address on the Udemy instructor account
- •The payout method on file (PayPal, Payoneer, Tipalti, or U.S. direct deposit) and its details
- •A death certificate
- •Documentation showing you are the authorized representative of the estate (for example, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration)
Required Documents
- Email address on the Udemy account
- Payout method on file (PayPal, Payoneer, Tipalti, or U.S. direct deposit) and its details, for an instructor account
- Death certificate
- Documentation showing you are the authorized representative of the estate (for example, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration)
Timeline
Udemy publishes no timeline for handling a deceased instructor's account or paying an outstanding balance to an estate, so timing depends on Udemy Support. For context on the normal payout cycle: Udemy pays instructors monthly after the 30-day refund period ends, and payment is made within 45 days of the end of the month in which the course fee was received. Effective September 1, 2025, Udemy only processes a payout once the instructor balance reaches $25 USD; amounts below that are held until the balance reaches $25 USD or the end of the calendar year in which they were earned, whichever comes first.
Frequently asked questions
Unpaid Udemy instructor revenue is money owed to the account, so it is a recoverable estate asset. Udemy's own rules state that an instructor account cannot be closed until the last scheduled payout is sent, which confirms the balance is owed rather than forfeited. Udemy does not publish a deceased-instructor estate process, so an executor must contact Udemy Support directly to ask how the outstanding balance can be paid to the estate.
No. Udemy accounts are not transferable. An instructor account and its published courses cannot be reassigned to a relative, and a student's purchased courses are a personal, non-transferable license. The only value that can reach the estate is an instructor's unpaid revenue, which is paid out as money rather than transferred as an account.
No. Udemy's Terms of Use grant students a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to view the courses they paid for, and content cannot be transferred or resold. A purchased course library ends with the account and cannot pass to an heir.
Use the Contact Us option on any Udemy Help Center article, which connects to Udemy's virtual agent "Alex" and can route to an email ticket. Udemy does not publish a customer support phone line or a dedicated estate channel, so explain the situation in the ticket and ask how the unpaid revenue balance and the published courses are handled. Have the account email, the payout method on file, a death certificate, and estate authorization documents ready.
Udemy pays instructors a revenue share monthly through PayPal, Payoneer, Tipalti, or U.S. direct deposit, after the 30-day refund period ends and within 45 days of the end of the month in which the course fee was received. Effective September 1, 2025, Udemy only processes a payout once the instructor balance reaches $25 USD; smaller amounts are held until the balance reaches $25 USD or the end of the calendar year in which they were earned, whichever comes first.
The recipient can use transferred revenue under the program's normal terms. Keeping the deceased account holder's account number and contact details on file simplifies this process for the executor or surviving family.
Sources
Data sourced from Udemy, Inc. primary sources (7 pages reviewed). How we research.
Udemy Support
Udemy Support (no dedicated estate or deceased-instructor channel; use the general Contact Us flow)
Udemy publishes no timeline for handling a deceased instructor's account or paying an outstanding balance to an estate, so timing depends on Udemy Support. For context on the normal payout cycle: Udemy pays instructors monthly after the 30-day refund period ends, and payment is made within 45 days of the end of the month in which the course fee was received. Effective September 1, 2025, Udemy only processes a payout once the instructor balance reaches $25 USD; amounts below that are held until the balance reaches $25 USD or the end of the calendar year in which they were earned, whichever comes first.
