Page 6 - Jupiter West - September '22

Page 6, Jupiter West
What Happens To Your Social Media Accounts At Your Death?

Submitted by Anné What Happens To Your wishes in your estate plan, you can provide guidance to
Desormier-Cartwright, your loved ones and reassurance that your legacy will live
Esq. Snapchat Account After You on. Contact us today to discuss next steps for protecting
According to Statista, you, your accounts, and your loved ones.
more than 295 million Die? If you have questions about this or your estate plan and
people in the United States what documents are necessary schedule a consultation
use social media. If you If You Do Nothing today by calling our office at (561) 694-7827, Anné
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are an avid social media A family member can contact Snapchat, provide them Desormier-Cartwright, Esq., Elder & Estate Planning
user, have you considered with a copy of your death certificate, and have the account Attorneys PA, 480 Maplewood Drive, Suite 3, Jupiter, FL
what will happen to your deleted. 7 33458.
accounts when you die? If Snapchat does not allow you to designate someone to The content of this article is general and should not be
you have spent time creating, continue the account after you have passed. relied upon without review of your specific circumstances
uploading, and sharing content, it is important to take a look by competent legal counsel. Reliance on the information
now at what will happen after you pass away so you can What Happens To Your herein is at your own risk, as it expresses no opinion by
determine your content’s future. the firm on your specific circumstances or legal needs.
What Happens To Your Twitter Account After You An attorney client relationship is not created through the
information provided herein.
Facebook Account After You Die? 1 Number of social network users in the United States from

Die? If You Do Nothing 2017 to 2026, Statista (July 2021), https://www.statista.
The person authorized to act on behalf of your estate or com/statistics/278409/number-of-social-network-users-
If You Do Nothing a verified immediate family member can contact Twitter in-the-united-states/.
According to Facebook’s Help Center, they will and request that your account be deactivated. Twitter 2 What will happen to my Facebook account if I
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memorialize your account if a loved one informs will ask for supporting documentation to avoid false or pass away?, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/
them of your passing. Although your account will be unauthorized reports. help/103897939701143 (last visited Nov. 17, 2021).
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memorialized, no changes will be made to it without On the other hand, if the account is inactive for six 3 Id.
a legacy contact. However, the content you previously months or longer (i.e., no one has logged in during that 4 Id.
shared will remain and will continue to be viewable by period), Twitter may permanently remove the account 5 How do I report a deceased person’s account on
those you originally shared it with. “due to prolonged inactivity.” Instagram?, Instagram, https://www.facebook.com/
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What You Can Do help/instagram/264154560391256/?helpref=related (last
If you want your account to continue to be managed, What Happens To Your visited Nov. 18, 2021).
you will need to designate someone as a legacy contact. 6 Deactivate or close your account, Pinterest, https://help.
Your designee “can accept friend requests on behalf of YouTube Account After You pinterest.com/en/article/deactivate-or-close-your-account
a memorialized account, pin a tribute post to the profile (last visited Nov. 18, 2021).
and change the profile picture and cover photo.” 3 Die? 7 Contact Us, Snapchat Support, https://support.snapchat.
You also have the option to have your account com/en-US/i-need-help?start=5640758388326400 (last
permanently deleted when you die. As a result, everything If You Do Nothing visited Nov. 18, 2021).
associated with the account, including messages, photos, Because of YouTube’s affiliation with Google, an 8 How to contact Twitter about a deceased family member’s
comments, etc., will also be permanently deleted. immediate family member or representative of your estate account, Twitter, https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-
Facebook Pages can contact Google to close the account and submit a and-policies/contact-twitter-about-a-deceased-family-
If you have a Facebook page for your social media request for funds from your account. 10 members-account (last visited Nov. 18, 2021).
endeavor, Facebook states that “[p]ages with a sole admin. What You Can Do 9 Inactive account policy, Twitter, https://help.twitter.
whose account was memorialized will be removed from You can control access to your YouTube account using com/en/rules-and-policies/inactive-twitter-accounts (last
Facebook if we receive a valid memorialization request.” 4 Google’s Inactive Account Manager, which allows you visited Nov. 18, 2021).
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Therefore, if you want your page to continue, you to designate a person to be contacted if your account 10 Submit a request regarding a deceased user’s account,
should plan ahead. has been inactive for a specified period of time. If you Google Account Help, https://support.google.com/
have decided to grant the designee access to any of your accounts/troubleshooter/6357590?hl=en (last visited
What Happens To Your accounts, they will also be informed of the data you have Nov. 18, 2021).
About Inactive Account Manager, Google
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Instagram Account After You chosen to share with them. The message will also include Account Help, https://support.google.com/accounts/
a link they can use to download the information.
Die? Next Steps answer/3036546?hl=en&ref_topic=3382254 (last visited
Because the process for each account is different, it is
Nov. 18, 2021).
important that your loved ones know what social media
If You Do Nothing accounts you have and what your wishes are for their
If, upon your passing, Instagram receives a valid future after you have passed. By properly laying out your
request, they will memorialize your account. Posts you
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shared will stay on your account and will still be visible
to those you originally shared the content with.
As an alternative, an immediate family member can BUILDING LIFE’S CHAMPIONS
request that your account be removed from Instagram.
To remove an account, Instagram requires proof that the
requesting person is an immediate family member. imagine collaborative personalized insightful creative learning
Instagram has no way for you to designate someone
to manage your account at your death.

What Happens To Your

Pinterest Account After You
Die?

If You Do Nothing
After you pass away, a family member can contact
Pinterest via their website to inform them of your
passing. Upon receiving notice of your death, Pinterest
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will deactivate your account, and it will no longer be
accessible by anyone.
Pinterest currently has no way for you to designate
someone to manage the account after your passing.

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