The short answer: You don’t need your parent’s passwords. You need to know which accounts exist, whether Google’s or Apple’s built-in tools are turned on, and whether any power of attorney actually names digital accounts by name. Do that audit while your parent can still say yes, not after an account has already locked you out.
A Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act is the state law that decides who can open a person’s online accounts after they die or lose the ability to manage them. This is US state law, and most but not all states have adopted it; outside the US, check your own country’s rules, since a platform tool may not carry the same legal weight there. Under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), a person’s own setting inside a service, such as Google’s Inactive Account Manager, is checked first and overrides both a will or power of attorney and the platform’s own terms of service. If the tool isn’t set, a will or power of attorney that expressly names digital accounts still controls next. Only if both are missing does the platform’s own terms of service become the deciding rule instead of your parent’s wishes.
Why can’t this wait until something happens?
Google can delete an inactive account, Gmail and Photos included, after about two years with no sign-in, and there is no family override once that happens. Setting up Inactive Account Manager takes a few minutes and doesn’t require your parent to hand anyone a password.
Lost photos aren’t the only risk. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that adults 60 and older lost $7.7 billion to fraud in 2025, a roughly 60% increase in losses from the year before, not a 60% increase in the number of victims. Accounts nobody else can see are accounts where nobody else notices when something is wrong. The pandemic already showed what happens when families are locked out with no plan, and that risk hasn’t gone away.
Which of your parent’s accounts matter?
Focus on accounts that hold money, identity, or memories that can’t be recreated somewhere else.
- Primary email: most other accounts use it to verify identity and reset a forgotten password, so whoever controls it can eventually reach much of the rest.
- Bank and investment accounts: the ones needed to pay a funeral bill or settle the estate.
- Photos and cloud storage: Google Photos, iCloud, and similar services hold memories that don’t exist anywhere else.
- Social media: platforms like Facebook offer their own legacy or memorial settings worth checking.
- Cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets: these follow different survivor rules than a bank account; see what happens to your Bitcoin when you die.
What do Google and Apple already let your parent decide?
Google’s Inactive Account Manager and Apple’s Legacy Contact each let your parent decide, in advance, who can reach specific data after months of inactivity or a death, without sharing a password today.
| Feature | Google Inactive Account Manager | Apple Legacy Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Owner picks a timeout of 3, 6, 12, or 18 months of inactivity and names up to 10 trusted contacts | Owner names a contact from a device on iOS 15.2, macOS 12.1, or later, with two-factor authentication on |
| What’s included | Chosen data types, such as Gmail, Photos, or Drive | Photos, messages, notes, files, and device backups |
| What’s excluded | Anything the owner didn’t select | iCloud Keychain, so saved passwords and payment details don’t transfer |
| To use it after a death | Google notifies the trusted contact once the timeout passes | The named contact needs their unique access key plus a copy of the death certificate |
Google documents the Inactive Account Manager settings directly; Apple does the same for Legacy Contact requirements.
Does a power of attorney already cover this?
Not automatically. A generic power of attorney rarely gives an agent the legal right to read a parent’s email or messages. Under state Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Acts, the document has to expressly name the content of electronic communications, or the email provider can refuse to hand anything over.
A financial power of attorney also stops working the moment your parent dies. It cannot be used afterward to access a bank account, not even to pay for the funeral, unless the account was jointly held, has a payable-on-death beneficiary, or your state’s small-estate process applies. That step usually needs a Letter of Testamentary from a court instead (in the US; other countries issue their own probate equivalent, such as a Grant of Probate in the UK).
This is why the setting inside Google or Apple matters as much as the will itself. RUFADAA checks that setting first. If your parent skips it, a will or power of attorney that expressly names digital accounts still controls next; only if neither the tool nor such a document exists do the platform’s own terms of service become the deciding rule. A will and power of attorney still matter for everything else; seven documents worth filling out before you die covers the rest of the list.
How do you ask without alarming your parent?
Frame the request as a shared safety habit, not a conversation about death or a demand for secrets.
- Start with yourself first: mention that you’re setting up your own Inactive Account Manager, and ask whether your parent has done the same.
- Ask for a setting, not a password: request to be named a trusted contact or Legacy Contact instead of asking to be handed a login.
- Make it a checklist item, not a milestone: treat it the way you’d treat a spare house key, something sensible to have ready, not a sign that anything is wrong.
What if your parent says no?
Ask for the smaller thing first. Being named a trusted contact in Inactive Account Manager or as a Legacy Contact gives no access today: it only activates after months of inactivity or a death, so your parent stays in full control until then.
If the answer is still no, don’t let the whole plan stall there. Logins are one piece of a wider digital legacy plan, and the will and power of attorney can move forward on their own. Revisit the accounts conversation after a life event, such as a hospital stay or a friend’s account being locked, when the risk feels real again.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my parent’s passwords?
No. You need to know which accounts exist and whether your parent has turned on Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Apple’s Legacy Contact. Those settings let a named contact get in later without your parent ever writing down or sharing a password while they’re still managing their own accounts.
Can a power of attorney get me into my parent’s email now?
Only if the document specifically names the content of electronic communications. A general, do-everything power of attorney is usually not enough under state Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Acts, and an email provider can refuse the request without that exact wording.
What happens to a Google account if nothing is set up?
Google can delete the entire account, Gmail and Photos included, after about two years of inactivity. There is no family appeal once it’s gone, which is why setting up Inactive Account Manager in advance matters more than trying to sort things out afterward.
Does my parent’s will decide who gets into their accounts?
Not first. Under RUFADAA, the setting your parent chooses inside a tool like Inactive Account Manager is checked before any will or power of attorney. If no setting exists and the will is silent, the platform’s own terms of service decide instead.
This is general information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional in your jurisdiction for guidance specific to your family’s situation.
Last reviewed: August 2026
