What happens to Upwork balance when someone dies

“No other assignments are valid without Upwork's prior written consent, which can be requested via email or letter at the above addresses. Any other attempted transfer or assignment will be null and void.”¹

The account itself is not transferable: the User Agreement makes any assignment without Upwork's prior written consent void, and limits each person to one Account.¹

Clients pay freelancers through escrow services provided by Payment Escrow Inc., formerly Upwork Escrow Inc.²

Upon approval Upwork distributes all funds in the account via the previously designated payment method, such as ACH, Direct to Local Bank, PayPal or Payoneer, and the executor collects the funds from that payment vendor.³

Upwork can move funds to a different withdrawal method on receipt of the official death certificate, proof of beneficiary status and the requester's identification.³

Earnings show in four stages: work in progress, in review, pending (payments clients have approved that are in the holding period) and available (money ready to withdraw).⁴

Hourly work follows a weekly billing period, Monday 00:00 UTC to Sunday 23:59 UTC, then a review period, then a five-day security period before earnings become available, minus Upwork fees.⁵

Fixed-price work delivered with the "Submit Work for Payment" button starts a 14-day countdown for automatic payment.⁶

A client can file a dispute over logged hours; the freelancer has three days to accept or decline it, and Upwork pauses the contract meanwhile.⁷

When a client who ends a fixed-price contract requests a refund of the deposit, the freelancer has seven days to approve or dispute it.⁸

Under the escrow instructions, when a freelancer ends a fixed-price contract all funds held in escrow on it are released to the client.⁹

After distribution, Direct to Local Bank withdrawals should arrive within four business days, Direct to U.S. Bank within two to five business days, and PayPal transfers usually right away or within 24 hours.^{10, 11, 12}

Connects are virtual tokens freelancers use to submit proposals, sold at $0.15 each; Connects returned when a client cancels a job are credited back for reuse, "not for a refund of their cash value."¹³

A fixed-price contract with funds in escrow and no activity for 90 days after its last milestone date becomes dormant, and if neither side acts the funds are released to the client by default.^{14, 9}

Upwork may inactivate an ACH bank withdrawal method that has had no ACH transaction for 24 continuous months; this does not affect the account.¹⁵

When an account is closed the user no longer has access to information or material kept on the site, and content stored in the account may be deleted.¹

Upwork can contact the deceased's clients or hired freelancers on the estate's behalf; the official death certificate is required.³

Termination of the User Agreement does not terminate or otherwise impact any Service Contract or Project entered into between users, so clients need notice that the work will not be completed.¹

Only the agency owner can close an agency on Upwork, after removing members, closing contracts and withdrawing all payments, so an agency the deceased owned is raised with Upwork Legal in the same request.^{16, 17}

The User Agreement tells users never to share the Account password with anyone.¹