Facebook After Death: Memorialize, Delete or Name a Legacy Contact

When someone dies, their Facebook profile can be memorialized or removed. A memorialized profile stays online with the word Remembering next to the person's name, and friends can share memories on it. Facebook acts only when it receives a valid request, so someone has to tell it. If the person named a legacy contact beforehand, that person can manage the profile. If not, a memorialized profile can't be changed.

What happens to a Facebook profile after someone dies?

Facebook says account holders can choose in advance to have their main profile memorialized or to have the account permanently deleted after death. If they chose neither, only the main profile is memorialized when Facebook learns of the death.

Facebook describes a memorialized profile this way:

• The word Remembering appears next to the person's name.
• Depending on the profile's privacy settings, friends can share memories on the timeline.
• Photos and posts the person shared stay on Facebook, visible to the audience they were shared with.
• The profile no longer shows up in People You May Know suggestions, ads or birthday reminders.
• No one can log in to it.
• Without a legacy contact, the profile can't be changed.

Memorializing keeps what the person shared. Deleting does not. If the person chose Delete after death, Facebook says that once someone lets it know of the death, all their messages, photos, posts, comments, reactions and information are permanently removed, along with any additional profiles.

How do you memorialize a Facebook account?

Facebook says friends with the correct documentation may request memorialization, and it has a request form for this. Proof of death is required. Two documents Facebook lists for proving a death are an obituary and a memorial card.

If you're not family, consider reaching out to the person's family before requesting memorialization. It is a big decision, and families sometimes want to make it themselves or have already chosen a different route.

How do you remove a deceased person's Facebook account?

Removal is for immediate family members or the executor. Facebook asks for documentation showing you are one of them. If the person named a legacy contact, Facebook's form says only that legacy contact can request removal. In that case the profile can still be reported for memorialization and stays memorialized.

1. Gather a scan or photo of the death certificate. Facebook calls this the fastest way to process a request.
2. If you don't have the death certificate, send one document proving your authority: a last will and testament, a power of attorney, an estate letter, or a birth certificate if the person was a minor.
3. Add one document proving the death, such as an obituary or a memorial card.
4. Cover up personal details Facebook doesn't need, such as a Social Security number. Facebook says the information on your documents must match the account.
5. Submit everything through Facebook's request form.

Deleting is permanent. If the family isn't sure, memorializing keeps more choices open. If the person made a choice in their settings, it is worth finding out what they picked before sending a request.

What can a legacy contact do?

A legacy contact is someone the account holder chose to look after the profile once it is memorialized. Facebook says they can:

• accept friend requests on behalf of the memorialized profile
• change the profile picture and cover photo
• ask for the account to be deleted, whenever they choose
• download a copy of what the person shared, but only if the account holder turned that feature on

A legacy contact can't log in as the person. No one can. Facebook also says legacy contacts are only available for the main profile, not additional profiles, and that people who are minors can't choose one.

The download setting matters. Years of family photos and posts may live only on the account, and only the account holder can switch on the legacy contact's permission to save a copy.

How do you set a legacy contact or choose delete after death?

Facebook has moved these settings into Accounts Center. Not everyone sees them there yet, so menu names can differ a little. Here is the path Facebook describes:

1. From your main profile, click your profile photo at the top right.
2. Select Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Accounts Center.
3. Click Profiles and personal details, then Account ownership and control.
4. Click Memorialization and select your account.
5. Click Memorialize account or Delete after death. If you choose to memorialize, Facebook asks you to select a legacy contact.
6. Click Next to confirm. When you name a legacy contact, you can also allow them to download a copy of what you've shared.

Tell the person you chose. You can change your legacy contact at any time. Facebook says choosing Delete after death is how you remove a legacy contact without naming a replacement, and it deletes the account right after Facebook receives proof of death.

A choice made in an online tool like this can carry legal weight. California's version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, for example, says a user's online-tool direction overrides a contrary direction in a will, as long as the tool lets the user change or delete it at any time. Many states have a similar law, but details differ, so ask an estate attorney how your state handles it. Our guide to a digital will explains how digital wishes fit into an estate plan.

What happens to Facebook Pages and groups?

This is the part many people miss. Facebook says Pages with a sole admin whose profile is memorialized are removed from Facebook if it receives a valid memorialization request. Groups with a sole admin are paused.

If the person ran a business or club Page, the family may lose it. A second admin added in advance avoids that. If you are the person's family, check whether the person was the only admin of any Page or group, and save what you need before a memorialization request goes in.

Can you get the person's photos, posts or messages?

Facebook says that once an account is memorialized, what the person shared stays visible to the audience it was shared with. A legacy contact with the download permission can save a copy.

Beyond that, Facebook says it considers requests for additional account information or content only in rare cases. It requires proof that you are an authorized representative, such as a family member, and a court order. Sending the request doesn't guarantee Facebook will provide the content. If this matters, for example because photos exist nowhere else, talk to the estate's attorney or the executor. Our guide explains what an executor does.

What to do next

1. If you're handling someone's affairs, collect the death certificate and decide whether to memorialize or remove the profile. If you're a friend, ask the family first.
2. Check whether the person was the only admin of any Page or group.
3. Add Facebook to your list of accounts to close or manage. Our death notification checklist and guide to managing a deceased person's social media cover the rest, and Instagram after death covers Meta's other main app.
4. If you're planning ahead, set your own legacy contact and download permission in Accounts Center, and keep a list of your accounts where your executor can find it. See our digital estate planning guide and password management after death.