Probate – What to do with a LinkedIn profile after death
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LinkedIn is another part of our digital footprint that executors will likely want to deal with after death.
LinkedIn is popular worldwide as an online business networking platform. Though not something of financial value in the context of ‘probate’, it is one of many elements of our ‘digital estate’ that executors will now want to deal with following death. So, what are the options, and how do you deal with the LinkedIn profile of a deceased loved one?
Can I appoint a ‘Legacy Contact’ like Facebook?
No. LinkedIn currently has no facility to pre-appoint someone to have authority to deal with your profile in the even of you passing (something that Facebook and Apple do provide).
Do my Executors have to notify LinkedIn?
There is no obligation to register a death with LinkedIn. And, if you are able to leave a record of your login credentials, then your executors (or loved ones) can simply access your account and close it down following your passing.
Do LinkedIn Memorialise profiles?
Yes, LinkedIn do offer the opportunity for the profiles of deceased members.
To do so, it is necessary to report the death to LinkedIn with:
- Members full name
- LinkedIn profile link/URL
- Your relationship to the deceased
- Members emails address
- Date of passing
- Link to an obituary
They are also likely to want further proof of death and/or your authority to deal with the LinkedIn account including a copy of the death certificate, and the grant of probate too.
Can a Digital Will deal with a LinkedIn Profile?
Digital wills are a relatively new thing, and are in fact neither legally binding, nor defined anywhere in law or probate protocol. The idea of a digital will is to give our executors/loved ones a simple opportunity to access our online footprint, and deal with our various profiles as we would like. In simple terms it is a cross between a letter of wishes and an inventory.
It can be as simple as a table including:
- Profile/account
- Login credentials
- Instructions on what to do
The practical difficulty with keeping something like this up to date is, if nothing else, our login credentials change so often. An alternative therefore it to utilise a central password hub (eg iOS) ensuring that automatically keeps everything up to date, and to include login credentials to that one hub in your digital will.
LinkedIn Help Centre
You can check out the latest LinkedIn guidance here regarding ‘Deceased LinkedIn member’
Dealing with other social media accounts
Read more about what needs to/can happen to happen by clicking on each one below:
- Facebook – they do provide facility for memorialising the profile, as well as nominating a legacy contact during your lifetime.
- Twitter/X – there is no option to memorialise the profile, just close it.
- Snapchat – there is no option to memorialise the profile, just close it.
- TikTok – there is no option to memorialise the profile, just close it.
- Instagram – they do provide facility for memorialising the profile.
- Pinterest – there is no option to memorialise the profile, just close it.
- YouTube – there is no opportunity to memorialise the profile.
Free Probate Guide
We very much hope that this free probate guide helpful. And, do check out our vast library of other free legal guides. Please remember that our guides are not intended to be legal advice specific to you, nor should they or any comments left be taken as such. That’s where our team of expert probate lawyers comes in! If you would like specific help or advice, do reach out by leaving a comment, calling us, or emailing. A big thank you for visiting QLAW!
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