Facebook Memorialization Request

Seeing your deceased parent's Facebook profile pop up in "People You May Know" or receiving birthday reminders for them is jarring. Facebook provides two options for handling a deceased person's account: memorialization and deletion. The process is straightforward but takes time, and there are a few things to understand before you submit the request.

Memorialization vs. Deletion

Memorialization converts the profile into a memorial page. The word "Remembering" appears next to the person's name. Existing content stays visible to the audience it was shared with. Nobody can log in as the deceased. The account no longer appears in public spaces like birthday reminders, People You May Know, or ads. Depending on the account's privacy settings, friends can share memories on the memorialized timeline.

Deletion permanently removes the profile, photos, posts, videos, and other content added to the account. Copies of messages sent to friends may still be visible in their inboxes after deletion.

If your parent designated a legacy contact before they died, that person has some management ability over the memorialized profile. If they didn't, and no immediate family member wants the profile to remain visible, deletion is the alternative.

How to Submit a Memorialization Request

Go to Facebook's memorialization request page (search "Facebook memorialize account" to find the current URL). You'll need:

• The profile URL or name of the deceased
• Proof of death: a link to an obituary, death notice, or memorial page, OR a scanned death certificate

Facebook reviews requests; processing times vary. You'll receive a notification when the account has been memorialized.

Only a friend or family member can request memorialization. The requester does not need to have been Facebook friends with the deceased, but must provide documentation confirming the death.

What a Legacy Contact Can Do

If your parent designated a legacy contact (a Facebook setting where you choose someone to manage your profile after death), that person can:

• Pin a tribute post to the top of the profile
• Update the profile picture and cover photo
• Respond to friend requests
• Download a copy of what the deceased shared on Facebook, if they enabled this feature

A legacy contact cannot log in as the deceased, read private Messenger conversations, remove or edit existing posts, or remove existing friends.

If no legacy contact was designated, memorialization still happens — but nobody gets management ability. The profile stays as-is with the "Remembering" label.

Requesting Account Deletion

If you'd prefer to remove the account entirely, Facebook allows verified immediate family members or an authorized estate representative to request deletion. Facebook requires proof of death and proof that the requester is immediate family or authorized to act for the estate. Its listed examples include the deceased's birth certificate, a death certificate, and proof of authority under local law.

If the account was never memorialized, you can still request deletion through Facebook's form for a deceased person's account; you do not need to log in as the deceased.

Other Social Media Platforms

Instagram (owned by Meta) has a separate memorialization request in its Help Center. Submit proof of death with the request.

Twitter/X allows a verified immediate family member or an authorized estate representative to request account deactivation. X asks the requester for ID and a copy of the death certificate and does not provide account access.

LinkedIn lets anyone report a member as deceased for memorialization. Only someone authorized to act for the estate can request account closure, using court-issued letters of administration, letters testamentary, letters of representation, or another court order appointing them as the estate's authorized representative.

Google accounts are handled differently through Google's Inactive Account Manager. If your parent set it up, designated contacts receive the specific data they were authorized to access after the chosen inactivity period (3, 6, 12, or 18 months). If they didn't set it up, immediate family members and representatives can ask Google to close the account; Google may provide account content in certain circumstances after reviewing the request. Google does not provide passwords or other login details.

Apple accounts can be accessed through the Digital Legacy Program if your parent designated a Legacy Contact. The legacy contact uses an access key and a death certificate to request access to eligible iCloud data. Without a Legacy Contact, Apple requires legal documentation; in the U.S., Israel, and other locales, access can be requested with a court order naming you as the rightful inheritor. Some jurisdictions accept alternative documentation.

Handling Digital Accounts Systematically

Social media is one part of the broader digital estate. Your parent likely had email accounts, cloud storage, streaming subscriptions, app store purchases, and online banking — all of which need to be addressed as part of estate administration.

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), adopted in most US states, lets fiduciaries request access to digital assets under state law. A fiduciary can access the contents of electronic communications only if the user consented to that disclosure; the act has separate rules for other digital assets. Platform-specific procedures still apply, and executor authority does not give someone the deceased's password or unrestricted access to every account.

The Young Adult's Guide to Losing a Parent includes a platform-by-platform digital estate checklist covering social media, email, cloud storage, phone accounts, and subscription services — with the specific documents each platform requires.