In the days after a death, life splits into two tracks that don’t always feel like they belong together. On one track: the human work of grief—phone calls, photos, stories, the ache of absence. On the other: the practical work that keeps moving whether you are ready or not—notifications, subscriptions, accounts, paperwork, and decisions that arrive before your heart has caught up.
LinkedIn sits right in the middle of those two tracks. It’s not “just social media” for many families. A profile can be a public record of someone’s professional life, a place where colleagues learn the news, and—sometimes—a source of painful automated reminders. If you’ve received a “congratulations” prompt for someone who has died, you already understand why families search for close linkedin account after death, remove linkedin profile deceased, or report deceased linkedin member late at night when the house is quiet.
This guide will walk you through LinkedIn’s official process, what information to gather, and what to expect if you’re the executor or next of kin. And because most families aren’t handling one task at a time, we’ll also gently connect this digital step to the physical choices you may be making alongside it—funeral planning, deciding how much does cremation cost, and choosing memorial items like cremation urns, pet urns, and cremation jewelry when the question becomes what to do with ashes.
What LinkedIn allows after a death
LinkedIn’s Help Center explains that there are different paths depending on whether you are legally authorized to act on behalf of the person who died. On its LinkedIn Help page for a deceased member, LinkedIn notes that if you have authority, you can request the account be closed; if you are not authorized, you can report the member as deceased and LinkedIn will memorialize the profile. That distinction matters, because it shapes what documents you’ll need, how much control you’ll have over the outcome, and what the end result looks like for the public.
Families often use the word “memorialize” in slightly different ways. Some mean “leave it up so people can remember them.” Others mean “freeze it so it stops sending alerts.” In LinkedIn terms, the options are best understood as: a closure request (a formal linkedin account closure request) or a report that leads to memorialization/hiding for those who aren’t acting as the legal representative.
What to gather before you start
When your mind is already overloaded, the fastest way to make this easier is to gather everything once, in one sitting, and then take a break. LinkedIn asks for specific details so it can complete linkedin verification of death and confirm the request is legitimate.
Based on LinkedIn’s deceased member guidance, you’ll typically want to have the following ready before you submit anything:
- The person’s full name (as it appears on their profile)
- The LinkedIn profile URL
- Your relationship to the person who died
- The email address associated with the account (if known)
- The date of death
- A link to an obituary or public notice
If you’re acting as executor or otherwise legally authorized—what families often search as executor linkedin—LinkedIn also indicates you may need a copy of the death certificate and legal documentation showing your authority (for example, letters testamentary, letters of administration, or another court order), as described on the same LinkedIn Help page.
One practical tip that saves time: if you don’t have the profile link, you can often find it by searching the person’s name plus “LinkedIn” in a browser. Copy the URL directly from the address bar. If the profile is private or difficult to locate, a family member who was connected with them on LinkedIn may be able to access it more easily.
How to report a deceased LinkedIn member
If you are not the executor or legal representative, you can still take action. This is often the most compassionate choice when the profile keeps surfacing in unexpected ways. Reporting a member as deceased is generally meant to remove the profile from active circulation and stop it from behaving like a living account.
Go to LinkedIn’s deceased member guidance page and use the option to report deceased linkedin member. In most cases, you’ll be asked for the basics: the profile URL, date of death, and an obituary link. If you’re worried you’ll do something “wrong,” it may help to hear this: the form is designed for everyday people, not attorneys. You do not need perfect wording. You need accurate identifiers and proof that the death is real.
Families sometimes worry that reporting a profile is “erasing” someone. In reality, reporting is usually about preventing harm—preventing identity misuse, reducing automated reminders, and giving the family space to decide what kind of public presence feels right in time.
How to request closure if you are the executor or next of kin
If you have legal authority, you can request the account be closed. This is the pathway many families choose when the person’s professional identity needs to be formally ended, or when privacy is a priority. It’s also common when the account may be connected to business relationships, recruiting messages, or sensitive communications you do not want lingering indefinitely.
In plain terms, this is the formal linkedin account closure request. LinkedIn’s Help Center describes the documentation it may require for closure, including proof of death and proof of authority to act on behalf of the estate. The purpose is not to make your life harder; it’s to protect the person who died (and their contacts) from fraudulent requests.
As you gather paperwork, it can help to treat this like one item on a broader digital estate checklist. If you’d like a steadier framework for the bigger digital picture—email access, subscriptions, phone plans, cloud photos—Funeral.com’s Journal has supportive guides like Digital Accounts After a Death: A Practical Closure Checklist and Digital Legacy Planning: Passwords, Social Media, and What Happens to Your Online Life After Death.
Memorialize or close: how families decide
When people search memorialize linkedin profile, they’re often trying to answer a deeper question: “Do we want this part of them to remain visible?” There is no universally correct choice. There is only what fits your family’s privacy needs, emotional comfort, and practical realities.
Closing is often chosen when:
You are concerned about privacy, identity theft, or unwanted messages; the person’s professional relationships were complex; or there are ongoing legal or business matters where an active profile creates confusion.
Memorialization/hiding is often chosen when:
The profile feels like a meaningful record, and the main goal is to stop active prompts and prevent access without fully removing the person’s public presence (especially when the person who is reporting is not the legal representative).
If you feel stuck, choose the option that reduces harm today. You can still honor a life in other ways—through an obituary, a memorial service, or a personal tribute—without forcing yourself to solve every “forever decision” immediately.
What to expect after you submit the request
After you submit the form, there is usually a waiting period while LinkedIn reviews the request and verifies the information. LinkedIn’s deceased member guidance notes that closing an account can take time to fully remove account data from its systems. In practical terms, that means you may still see the profile for a period while the request is processed, and you may need to be patient even when you want everything to be settled immediately. The key is that once it’s approved, the profile should stop behaving like an active account.
If you’re managing multiple responsibilities—work, family, travel, and services—consider taking a screenshot or saving a confirmation email after you submit, then moving on. Grief is heavy enough without reopening the same task repeatedly.
Why this belongs in the same conversation as funeral planning
It can feel strange to talk about LinkedIn in the same breath as cremation, urns, and memorial choices. But families don’t experience loss in neat categories. You might be choosing a venue for a service in the morning, and searching “how do I remove their LinkedIn profile” in the afternoon. The thread connecting it all is the same: you are trying to protect their dignity and create a steadier world for the people who loved them.
Cremation, in particular, has become a common path in the U.S. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate is projected to be 63.4% in 2025, and it is expected to continue rising over the long term. The Cremation Association of North America reports a U.S. cremation rate of 61.8% in 2024 and projects continued growth in the coming years. Those trends help explain why more families find themselves facing the same practical questions: where will the ashes go, who will keep them, and what kind of memorial fits real life?
Choosing the right urn and keepsake when ashes come home
If you’re arranging cremation or receiving ashes soon, the first decision is often the “home base” container: cremation urns for ashes that hold the primary remains. Some families want a full-size urn; others want something smaller because ashes will be divided, buried later, or placed in more than one location.
If you’re starting from zero, a calm place to browse is Funeral.com’s Cremation Urns for Ashes collection. If your plan includes sharing, travel, or a second memorial location, Small Cremation Urns for Ashes can be a practical middle ground—large enough to feel like an urn, but more compact than a traditional full-size vessel. And when what you really want is “a small portion for each person,” Keepsake Cremation Urns for Ashes are designed for exactly that kind of sharing.
Many families also ask about keeping ashes at home—sometimes temporarily while decisions settle, sometimes long-term. If that’s where you are, Funeral.com’s guide, Keeping Ashes at Home: How to Do It Safely, Respectfully, and Legally, walks through placement, household concerns, and ways to make a home memorial feel steady rather than stressful.
When “family” includes pets: pet urns and pet keepsakes
Grief doesn’t rank losses for us. For many households, losing a dog or cat reshapes the home in a way that surprises people who haven’t lived it. That’s why searches for pet urns and pet urns for ashes are so common—and why the choices often mirror what families do for human loved ones: a primary urn, plus a smaller keepsake for the person who needs something close.
If you’re choosing a primary memorial, Funeral.com’s Pet Cremation Urns for Ashes collection includes a range of styles and materials. If you want something sculptural that captures personality—a sitting cat, a breed likeness, a posture you recognize—Pet Figurine Cremation Urns for Ashes can feel especially meaningful. And for sharing among family members, or keeping a small portion in a separate space, Pet Keepsake Cremation Urns for Ashes are made for symbolic amounts.
If you’d like guidance that feels human (not transactional), Funeral.com’s Journal also offers practical support, including Pet Urns 101: Choosing the Right Memorial.
Cremation jewelry and the kind of closeness you can carry
Sometimes the hardest part of loss is that grief doesn’t stay in one room. It shows up at the grocery store, in the car line, during a meeting, at a work event where someone asks a question you don’t know how to answer yet. That’s one reason cremation jewelry—especially cremation necklaces—has become such a common choice. It offers a quiet, private way to keep a small, symbolic portion close without changing your whole home setup.
If you’re exploring options, Funeral.com’s Cremation Jewelry collection includes pieces designed to hold a tiny amount securely, and the Cremation Necklaces collection focuses on wearable memorials in a range of styles. For a practical explanation of what jewelry can realistically hold (and how it’s sealed), Funeral.com’s guide Cremation Jewelry 101 can help you choose with more confidence.
Water burial, scattering, and other answers to “what do we do now?”
After cremation, families often pause at the same question: what to do with ashes. Some want to keep everything at home. Others want a scattering ceremony. Some want a cemetery placement. And some feel drawn to a water burial—a contained, ceremonial goodbye on a lake, river, or ocean that can feel gentler than loose scattering in the wind.
If you’re still deciding, it can help to read a guide that connects the container to the plan. Funeral.com’s Journal article Scatter, Bury, Keep, or Water Burial: Which Urn Type Fits Each Plan? is designed to do exactly that—so you can choose an urn that supports the ceremony you want, even if the ceremony happens later.
And if your family needs ideas that don’t feel performative, Funeral.com’s resource What to Do With Cremation Ashes: 25 Meaningful Ideas offers options ranging from simple to ceremonial, including keepsakes and jewelry.
Cost questions are part of care, not a lack of love
It’s common to feel guilt about money questions in grief. But budgeting is not disrespect. It’s protection—of your household, your future, and the people who are still living. If you’re searching how much does cremation cost, you are not alone, and you are not doing anything wrong by needing clarity.
For a grounded, current overview, Funeral.com’s guide How Much Does Cremation Cost in the U.S.? (2025 Guide) explains the difference between direct cremation and full-service options, common fees, and how memorial items like keepsake urns or cremation necklaces fit into the total picture.
A gentle closing thought: you don’t have to finish everything at once
Closing or memorializing a LinkedIn profile can feel like one more “final” action in a season already full of endings. If you’re not ready, that’s human. But if the profile is causing repeated pain, or if you’re concerned about privacy, taking this step is an act of care.
Do what you can with the energy you have today. Gather the details, submit the request, and then return to the parts of remembrance that matter most—telling the story, caring for your family, and making choices that feel steady over time. Whether you are sorting a digital estate checklist, choosing pet cremation urns after a quiet house becomes quieter, or selecting small cremation urns and cremation urns for ashes as part of funeral planning, the goal is the same: dignity, love, and a path forward that you can live with.
