How to find and close a loved one's online accounts and subscriptions
In the weeks after someone dies, the online world carries on as if nothing had happened. Subscriptions renew, emails arrive, apps send reminders. Few people leave a list, so families have to piece together the accounts one clue at a time. This guide gives you a calm, step-by-step way to do it, in whatever order your energy allows.
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Before you close anything
Keep their email account and phone number working for now if you can. They're how you'll discover most other accounts, and how you'll receive the codes and password resets you need to deal with them. Ask the phone company about keeping the line active for a few months. See two-factor authentication after death for why this matters.
Step 1: Read the bank and card statements
Go back twelve months and list every payment that repeats: monthly, yearly or irregular. You'll usually find streaming services, music, cloud storage, software, newspapers, gym and club memberships, and app subscriptions billed through Apple or Google. Yearly payments, such as a domain name or an antivirus licence, are the easiest to miss.
Once the bank knows about the death, it will deal with the accounts in its name. Ask what happens to recurring card payments, and how to stop any that continue.
Step 2: Search their email
If you can access their inbox, search for words that companies use when you sign up or pay:
- "welcome", "verify your email", "confirm your account"
- "receipt", "invoice", "order", "renewal", "subscription"
- "password reset", "new sign-in", "security alert"
Each result points to an account. Add it to your list, even if it looks unimportant.
Step 3: Look at their devices
- The apps on their phone and tablet are a ready-made list of accounts.
- A password manager, or the passwords saved in their browser or phone, lists every site they logged in to, if you can open it.
- Their computer's bookmarks and downloads folder can fill in the gaps.
If you can't unlock a device, see our guide on unlocking a deceased person's iPhone.
Step 4: Check paper and post
Letters, cards, account statements and welcome packs still turn up for online services. Over the next few months, keep an eye on the post for anything you missed.
Step 5: Tell government organisations
In the UK, the Tell Us Once service lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go, including HMRC, the DWP, the Passport Office, the DVLA and the local council. It doesn't cover banks, insurers, utilities or private companies: you need to contact those yourself. Other countries have their own procedures.
Decide what to do with each account
| Type of account | Usually |
|---|---|
| Paid subscriptions | Cancel first, to stop payments |
| Shopping accounts with saved cards | Close, to avoid misuse |
| Photos and cloud storage | Download what the family wants, then close |
| Social media | Memorialize or remove (see our guide to Facebook and Instagram after death) |
| Domain names, online shops, loyalty points | Check the terms: some can be transferred |
| Email and phone number | Close last, when everything else is done |
Keep a simple log
For each account, note what you did, the date and any reference number. It saves repeating yourself when a company asks, and it helps the executor show what's been done.
Watch out for scams
Unfortunately, scammers target bereaved families. Be wary of any message claiming to be from a company, an app store or a bank that asks for a payment, a password or a recovery code. Contact the company yourself, using details from its official website.
Making it easier for your own family
If going through this has made you think about your own accounts, a short list now saves your family weeks later. Start with our digital estate planning checklist.
The zero-knowledge alternative: why we're building Heritkey
Heritkey is built so that nobody has to piece together your digital life from bank statements. You keep your accounts, subscriptions, passwords and wishes in one end-to-end encrypted vault, and the people you choose can open it when it's needed, after a waiting period you set. Nobody else can read it, not even us. See how Heritkey works.
Lock in the $3.99/month early-access price →Or $74.99 once for life. Your heirs never pay. Waitlist members keep the launch price.