You asked Apple for help with a loved one's account and the answer came back: without a Legacy Contact access key, Apple needs a court order. For most families that is where the conversation stops. The photos are in iCloud, the phone is locked, and a court order sounds like something for other people.
This page is about what happens next. What Apple's rule actually says, why a grant of probate has not been enough, what you can do today without any court at all, and how to decide whether the court route is worth it for what is actually in the account. If you have not contacted Apple yet, start with our Apple ID and iCloud guide, which explains the Legacy Contact route and the one warning to read before asking Apple to close anything.
The short version. Without an access key, Apple will not give a UK family the contents of an account on a death certificate or a grant of probate. It wants a court order that names Apple. But you do not need a court order to close the account, to remove the Activation Lock from a device you have proof of purchase for, or to reach most of the photos by another route. Do those first, then decide about the court.
Which of these is happening?
- Apple has said it needs a court order
- You sent the grant of probate and Apple did not accept it
- You want to know what you can do without a court order
- A Legacy Contact was set up but nobody can find the access key
- The phone is locked and nobody knows the passcode
- You are deciding whether the court route is worth it
Apple has said it needs a court order
Apple's support page on this, last updated in August 2026, is clearer than the conversation you may have had. If the person set up a Legacy Contact, that person requests access with the access key and a death certificate, and Apple calls it the easiest and most secure way. Without one, Apple says a court order is required in the United States, Israel and certain other places, and that alternative documents are accepted instead of a court order in France, Germany, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The United Kingdom is not on the alternative documents list. In practice that means a UK family without an access key is asked for a court order.
Apple sets out what the order has to say. It must identify the name and Apple Account of the person who died, name the next of kin who is asking for access, state that the person who died was the user of the accounts, state that the requester is their legal personal representative, agent or heir, and order Apple to assist in providing access. Two more things from the same page matter. Only one person can request access to a deceased person's account. And some data is end to end encrypted, which Apple cannot decrypt for anyone, court order or not.
You sent the grant of probate and Apple did not accept it
This is the part that catches executors, because a grant of probate is an order of a court, and it is enough for banks, pension providers and the Land Registry. UK solicitors who have taken this to court have written that a grant of probate, or letters of administration where there is no will, is not sufficient to meet Apple's criteria, and that a separate application had to be made asking the court to order Apple to grant access. In the case they describe, access was eventually agreed.
So the grant is not wasted. It proves you are the personal representative, which the order has to state. But it does not itself name Apple, describe the data, or order Apple to do anything, and those are the parts Apple looks for. Getting an order that does is a solicitor's job, and the section on whether it is worth it is written to help you decide before you pay for one.
What you can do without a court order
Most of what families actually need does not require access to the account. Do these first.
Apple will permanently delete a deceased person's account on the family's request without a court order. Go to Apple's Digital Legacy website, choose the option for people who do not have an access key, and follow the request for deletion with a death certificate. You need your own Apple Account to make the request. Read the warning in our main guide first: closing the account deletes everything in iCloud and cannot be undone, so it comes last, not first.
An iPhone, iPad or Mac tied to the person's account stays locked to it. Apple can remove Activation Lock for a family with proof of purchase, such as the original receipt or the box with the serial number, and a death certificate. This does not give you the data; it lets the device be erased and used again.
Photos are usually in more than one place. Shared albums the person contributed to are still in the other members' libraries. A Mac or iPad that is not locked, or that a family member knows the passcode for, holds its own copy. Many people also back up to Google Photos or WhatsApp without realising. Messages and photos sent to relatives are on the relatives' phones. Gather these before deciding whether the remainder is worth a court application.
Apple subscriptions, iCloud storage and app subscriptions renew until the account is closed or the card stops. Tell the bank about the death, and the payments fail at the next renewal. Our subscriptions guide covers the order to do it in.
This is the point where most families hand it over. Closing the account, the Activation Lock request and every other account the person had need no court order, and we tell you plainly at the start what a court order would and would not add. Start a case from £149 →
Not ready for that? Email us what Apple told you and we will tell you what it means and what is realistic. No charge, and no obligation.
A Legacy Contact was set up but nobody can find the access key
When someone adds a Legacy Contact, Apple creates an access key and offers to share it. If the contact accepted it on their own iPhone, iPad or Mac, the key is stored on that device. On an iPhone it is under Settings, then the contact's own name at the top, then Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact, where the person who died is listed with the key. Some people printed the key or saved it as a PDF, and it is worth looking in the paperwork and the Files app for a document with "access key" in the name.
The key is only useful to the person it was issued to. If that person cannot be found, or has also died, the account is in the same position as one with no Legacy Contact, and the sections above apply.
The phone is locked and nobody knows the passcode
A court order does not unlock a phone. Apple says it cannot remove a passcode without erasing the device, and no document changes that. If the passcode is unknown, the photos on the phone itself are out of reach, and the question becomes whether they are also in iCloud, which is what the court order is about, or in one of the other places listed above. Our main guide has a section on Activation Lock and locked devices.
Deciding whether the court route is worth it
Ask three questions before you speak to a solicitor.
What is actually in iCloud that is nowhere else? Photos are the usual answer. Check whether iCloud Photos was even switched on, which you can sometimes tell from the storage plan the person paid for. A free 5 GB account rarely holds a lifetime of photos. A paid 200 GB or 2 TB plan often does.
Is any of it beyond reach anyway? Apple's page says some data is end to end encrypted and cannot be decrypted by Apple. If the person turned on Advanced Data Protection, that includes their photos and notes, and a court order will not produce them. Health data, passwords and messages in iCloud are encrypted in that way even without it.
What will it cost against what it will recover? An application to the court needs a solicitor, a court fee, and weeks to months. Apple has agreed access in cases solicitors describe, but nobody can promise the outcome. For a lifetime of photos that exist nowhere else, families do decide it is worth it. For an account that mainly held email and apps, they usually do not.
If you decide to go ahead, take Apple's list of what the order has to say to the solicitor at the first meeting. It saves a round trip.
Or let us handle the rest
Departed Digital closes or memorialises online accounts for families. We cannot get you into an Apple account without the access key or the court order, and we will not suggest otherwise. What we can do is close the account when the family is ready, make the Activation Lock request, help you find where else the photos live, and deal with every other account the person had, from Facebook to the email to the subscriptions, with the documents sent once and a written record at the end. We never ask for passwords.
Packages start from £149, and one case covers every account.
Apple has said no? Tell us what they said and we will tell you what is realistic, free. Email us → Or hand the whole thing over: start a case.