What documents do you need to close a deceased person's online accounts? A country by country guide

One reason these requests feel so hard is that nobody tells you which piece of paper is enough. Families either send everything and wait, or send the wrong thing and get a refusal with no explanation. It is harder still when the platform's help page is written in American legal terms and you live somewhere that uses different ones.

Every platform asks for the same three things, wherever you are: proof of the death, proof that you are entitled to act, and proof of who you are. What changes from country to country is what those documents are called and who issues them. This guide covers the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. If the death was registered in the UK, use our UK version, which has the General Register Office details.

The three documents, and the one detail families forget

Platforms draw a line between two kinds of request. Asking for an account to be memorialised usually needs proof of death only, and often anyone can ask. Asking for an account to be removed, or for money or data to be released, is limited to immediate family or the person legally handling the estate, and that is where the second and third documents come in.

• Proof of death. The official death certificate. For memorialising a Facebook or Instagram profile, an obituary or a news article is accepted as well.
• Proof that you can act. Either a certificate that shows your relationship, such as a birth or marriage certificate, or the court document that appoints you to deal with the estate. The name of that court document is what differs most between countries, and the next section goes through it.
• Proof of who you are. A passport or driver's licence. Cover any numbers the platform does not need if it only has to see your name and photo.
• The detail families forget: which account. A request fails if the platform cannot find the account. Have the exact profile web address for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, and the exact email address for Google, Apple, Amazon and PayPal.

What the documents are called where you live

United States

• Death certificate. Certified copies come from the vital records office of the state, or sometimes the county, where the death happened. The funeral home usually orders the first set for the family. Order several, because banks and insurers often keep an original, while the platforms accept a clear scan or photo.
• Authority to act. The probate court issues letters testamentary to an executor named in a will, or letters of administration where there was no will. Many states also have a simpler small estate affidavit for modest estates. Meta's forms ask for proof of authority "under local law", and Google's form for money in an account asks for "court-certified letters testamentary".
• Relationship. A birth certificate naming the parent, or a marriage certificate.

Canada

• Death certificate. Issued by the vital statistics office of the province or territory where the death happened. The funeral home also gives the family its own proof of death statements. If that is all you have, try it, and order the provincial certificate if a platform asks for more.
• Authority to act. In most provinces the court issues a grant of probate, or a grant of administration where there was no will. Ontario calls the same document a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee. Quebec works differently: a notarial will does not go through probate, and the person acting for the estate is called the liquidator.

Australia

• Death certificate. Issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state or territory where the death happened. The funeral director normally registers the death, and the family orders the certificate from the registry.
• Authority to act. A grant of probate where there was a will, or letters of administration where there was not, from the Supreme Court of the state or territory.
• Worth knowing. The Australian Death Notification Service is a free government service that tells banks, super funds, utilities, councils and insurers about a death with one online form. Its list has no social media or email providers on it, so those accounts still need a request each.

New Zealand

• Death certificate. Ordered from Births, Deaths and Marriages, part of the Department of Internal Affairs.
• Authority to act. Probate where there was a will, or letters of administration where there was not, granted by the High Court.

Ireland

• Death certificate. Issued by the Civil Registration Service, from any of its offices or ordered online.
• Authority to act. A grant of probate where there was a will, or letters of administration where there was not, from the Probate Office or a district probate registry.

Anywhere else

The platforms accept the local equivalents: the official death certificate, and the court or notarial document that names the person entitled to deal with the estate. If a document is not in English, expect to be asked for a translation. Google, for one, asks for "a certified, notarized English translation prepared by a professional translator". Keep the original with it.

What each platform asks for, as of October 2026

• Facebook: to memorialise, an obituary, death certificate, memorial card or other proof of death. To remove, the same plus proof that you are immediate family or the executor. Guide.
• Instagram: to memorialise, a link to an obituary or news article. To remove, the person's birth certificate, their death certificate, or proof of authority under local law. Guide.
• Google: your ID and the death certificate to close the account. The estate's court document to claim money. A court order for the account's contents. Guide.
• Apple: the Legacy Contact access key and a death certificate for access. A death certificate to close the account. Proof of purchase for Activation Lock. A court order for access where there was no Legacy Contact. Guide.
• LinkedIn: an obituary link to memorialise. The death certificate, your ID and proof of relationship or authority to close. Guide.
• X: the death certificate and your ID, from family or the executor. Guide.
• Microsoft: the death certificate and proof of your relationship, through its next of kin process. Guide.
• PayPal and Amazon: the death certificate, your ID and, for a balance, the estate's court document. PayPal, Amazon.
• WhatsApp: none. WhatsApp has no process that takes documents, and our WhatsApp page explains what works instead.

Getting the format right

Sending documents safely

Only upload documents through the platform's own form, reached from its help pages, never through a link in an email or message you were not expecting. Never send anyone a password, and treat any request for one as a scam. If you use a service like ours, the documents go through a private case page for that family only, and are deleted when the case is closed if you ask us to.

Or send them once and let us do the rest

Departed Digital asks for the documents once, at the stage they are needed, and uses them for every platform in the case. You get a written record of what was sent where and what happened. Packages start from £149, checkout shows your local currency automatically, and we work with families in the UK and internationally.