Digital Estate Planning: Guide to Set Up Legacy Contacts

Most estate plans focus on physical assets like homes, bank accounts, and personal property, but digital assets are often overlooked. Without proper digital estate planning, your loved ones may be locked out of email accounts, cloud-stored photos, financial records, and social media after your death, losing access to irreplaceable memories and important information. Legacy contacts solve this problem by allowing you to designate someone in advance to access specific digital accounts or devices. This guide walks you through setting up legacy contacts on Android devices, Google accounts, and Apple devices.

Android

Android does not have a universal “legacy contact” feature like Apple. Instead, Android users should set up Google’s Inactive Account Manager and Android Unlock Access Planning.

Google’s Inactive Account Manager allows you to designate trusted contacts who can access your Gmail, Drive, Photos, and other Google services if your account becomes inactive. Follow the steps in the Google section below to set this up.

Android Unlock Access Planning ensures someone can physically unlock your phone to access apps, messages, and locally stored data that are not synced to the cloud. If you want someone to be able to unlock your physical Android device after your death, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Security & Privacy (or Lock Screen / Security).
3. Confirm you have a PIN (recommended) or Password set.
4. Write the PIN down and store it in a secure place (password manager “Emergency Access,” safe, or with your estate documents).
5. (Optional) Add Emergency Contacts:
   Settings → Safety & Emergency → Emergency Contacts → Add Contact(s).

Google

Google’s Inactive Account Manager is the official way to designate people who can receive data or be notified if your Google account becomes inactive. After you complete the setup, tell your trusted contact(s) to watch for an email from Google and keep that email.

1. On a computer or phone, go to your Google Account:
   • Open Google → tap your profile icon → Manage your Google Account.
2. Tap Data & Privacy.
3. Scroll to More options (or “More options for your data & privacy”).
4. Find Make a plan for your digital legacy or Inactive Account Manager and open it.
5. Tap Start.
6. Choose the inactive timeout period (how long Google waits before treating the account as inactive).
7. Add a phone number and recovery email (Google uses this to warn you first).
8. Add Trusted Contact(s):
   • Enter their email address.
   • Choose what data they can access (you can pick specific Google services).
9. (Optional) Set up an auto-reply for Gmail after inactivity.
10. (Optional) Decide whether you want Google to delete the account after data is shared.
11. Tap Review → Confirm.

Apple

Apple has a true “Legacy Contact” feature that gives a designated person a Legacy Contact Access Key to request access after your death. The Legacy Contact will need both the Access Key and a copy of the death certificate, as Apple typically requires documentation to grant access.

On iPhone / iPad

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap your name (Apple ID banner at the top).
3. Tap Sign-In & Security (or Password & Security, depending on iOS version).
4. Tap Legacy Contact.
5. Tap Add Legacy Contact.
6. Authenticate with Face ID / Touch ID / passcode.
7. Select a person: Choose someone from Contacts (must have an Apple ID).
8. Choose how to share the Access Key: Message, or print a copy (recommended to store with estate documents).
9. Finish setup.

On a Mac

1. Apple Menu → System Settings.
2. Click your name → Sign-In & Security (or Apple ID).
3. Find Legacy Contact → Add.
4. Authenticate, select contact, and share/print the Access Key.

Protecting Your Digital Legacy

Setting up legacy contacts ensures your loved ones can access important digital accounts, photos, and information after your death without unnecessary delays or complications. Digital estate planning is an essential part of comprehensive estate planning, working alongside traditional tools like wills, trusts, and powers of attorney to protect everything you value. If you have questions about digital estate planning or want to ensure your complete estate plan covers both physical and digital assets, let’s connect to discuss your situation.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. You should contact an attorney for advice concerning any particular issue or problem. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between True Estate Planning and the reader.