The service is over. The casseroles have stopped arriving. Someone hands you a folder with a bank statement in it, a phone that still lights up with notifications, and a sticky note that says “ask about the iPad.” Now the real work starts, and almost all of it is paperwork.
Here is the part nobody warns you about. There is no single form. Every bank, every phone company, and every technology platform has built its own process, asks for its own documents, and routes you to its own department. Some want a certified death certificate. Some want a court order. At least one will not give you access no matter what you bring. This is a map of who wants what, so you can gather the right paper once instead of six separate times.
One plain note before we go further. This is general information, not legal advice. Estates run on state law and on the specific facts of one person’s situation, so talk to your own estate attorney before you sign or file anything.
Order More Death Certificates Than You Think You Need
Nearly every door in this process opens with the same key, and it is not the one most families expect. Almost nobody accepts a photocopy.
- Certified copies are the currency, not photocopies. A certified copy is one issued directly by a government vital records office with a raised seal or security paper on it. Institutions keep the copy you send them, which is exactly why one is never enough.
- Order in double digits, not in twos. Between banks, brokerages, life insurance, pensions, the vehicle title office, utilities, and the technology platforms, families routinely burn through ten or more. Reordering later costs another fee and another wait.
- In Texas you have three ways to order. The Texas Department of State Health Services Vital Statistics section takes orders online through Texas.gov, by mail, and in person at local registrar offices around the state or at its Austin office. Most in person requests are filled the same day.
- Ask the funeral home before you order anything yourself. Funeral directors usually file the death record and can order certified copies as part of their service. It is the single easiest step to delegate, and they do it every week.
One thing you probably do not have to do is call Social Security. The Social Security Administration says funeral homes generally report the death for you. If no funeral home is involved, you can report it by phone with the person’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death. A surviving spouse, or in some cases a child, may also be eligible for a small one time lump sum death payment from Social Security.
Banks Want Proof of Authority, Not Just Proof of Death
This is where most people get stuck, and the reason is a distinction banks care about a lot more than families do. A death certificate proves someone died. It does not prove that you are the person allowed to act on their behalf. Banks want both, and the second one usually comes from a court.
- Letters testamentary or letters of administration. These are short documents a probate court issues naming the person authorized to act for the estate. Letters testamentary go to the executor named in a will. Letters of administration go to a court appointed administrator when there is no will. Banks ask for a recently certified copy, not one from months ago.
- A sworn affidavit route for smaller estates. Texas provides simplified paths for modest estates that meet specific statutory conditions, which can avoid a full probate. Whether a given estate qualifies turns on details that are easy to get wrong, so this is a question for your attorney, not for the bank teller.
- Some accounts skip the line entirely. A payable on death or transfer on death account, meaning one where the owner named a beneficiary directly with the institution, generally passes to that person outside of probate. So do most joint accounts with right of survivorship. In those cases a death certificate and your identification may be all the bank needs.
- Do not let anyone tell you the debts are personally yours. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is clear that surviving family members are generally not responsible for a deceased person’s debts out of their own pockets. Exceptions exist for co-signers, joint account holders, spouses in community property states, and executors with duties under state law. Texas is a community property state, so this is one more item for the attorney list.
Apple Wants an Access Key, or Else a Judge
Apple built a feature called Digital Legacy, and the difference between using it and not using it is enormous. It is the single best argument for doing this planning while everyone is healthy.
- With a Legacy Contact, the request is short. A Legacy Contact is someone the account holder designated in advance. Apple generates an access key at that moment, which is a long code the contact saves or prints. To request access later, that person submits the access key and a death certificate.
- Without one, it gets long. Apple says it requires legal documentation, which generally includes a death certificate and might also require a court order depending on where you are. When a court order is needed, Apple wants it to state the deceased person’s name and Apple Account, name you as the requester, confirm that the deceased was the account user, confirm that you are the legal representative or heir acting with lawful consent, and direct Apple to help provide access.
- Some things never transfer at all. Apple says a Legacy Contact cannot get movies, music, books, or subscriptions the person purchased, and cannot get anything stored in iCloud Keychain, which is where passwords, payment cards, and passkeys live. Certain end to end encrypted data stays out of reach even with a court order, because Apple does not hold the key.
Google, Facebook, and X Each Run a Different Counter
These three are often lumped together as “social media,” but the actual counters could not be more different in what they will do for you.
- Google asks you to pick one path and commit. Its process for a deceased user offers three choices: close the account, submit a request for funds in the account, or request data from the account. Google states plainly that it will not provide passwords or login credentials, and that once you ask to close an account it cannot later turn over the contents. Choose the order of operations carefully.
- Google’s Inactive Account Manager is the version that actually works. Set up in advance, it lets a person choose how long the account must sit unused before it triggers, name up to ten trusted contacts, and decide exactly which data each one receives. Google also notes that it may delete accounts and their data after two years of inactivity if no plan exists.
- Facebook has two doors, memorialize or remove. A memorialized profile shows the word Remembering above the person’s name. If the person named a legacy contact, that person can write a pinned post at the top of the profile, respond to new friend requests, update the profile and cover photos, and download an archive if the account holder allowed it. A legacy contact cannot log in and cannot read private messages.
- X will not give anyone access, full stop. Its published policy says it cannot provide account access to anyone regardless of relationship to the deceased. What it will do is work with an authorized estate representative or verified immediate family member to deactivate the account, and for that it asks for information about the deceased, a copy of your identification, and a copy of the death certificate.
Texas Law Sets the Floor Under All of This
Chapter 2001 of the Texas Estates Code is the state’s version of a model law called the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, usually shortened to RUFADAA. It governs when a company has to hand over a deceased person’s digital accounts, and knowing its shape helps you tell the difference between a company following the law and a call center employee guessing.
- The online tool wins over the will. If the person used a company’s own planning feature, such as an Apple Legacy Contact or Google’s Inactive Account Manager, that instruction overrides a contrary instruction in a will or trust. Ten minutes in a settings menu can outrank a document that took an attorney an hour to draft.
- The list of messages is easier to get than the messages. The statute distinguishes between a catalog of electronic communications, meaning who wrote to whom and when, and the actual content of those communications. A personal representative can generally get the catalog and other digital assets. The content is a higher bar.
- Content takes the full stack of paper. To require disclosure, the statute contemplates a written request, a certified copy of the death certificate, and certified letters testamentary, a small estate affidavit, or a court order, plus either evidence the person consented or a court finding that disclosure is reasonably necessary to administer the estate. A custodian may also ask for the account identifier or evidence linking the account to the person.
The Bottom Line
Gather three things and you can walk into almost any of these conversations: a stack of certified death certificates, whatever the probate court has issued naming who may act, and a written list of the accounts you actually know about. Then work the list one institution at a time and expect each to be a little different. The families who have the easiest time are the ones where somebody set up a Legacy Contact or an Inactive Account Manager years earlier, which is worth remembering for your own accounts once the dust settles.
Again, this is general information and not legal advice. Please talk with your own estate attorney about your situation. If you are trying to sort out devices, accounts, or a business owner’s systems after a death and you want a calm technical hand rather than another sales pitch, reach out to us here. We work with families and small businesses across Denton County and we are glad to help you make the list.
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