iCloud Inheritance and Apple Legacy Contact: How Access Works and What Families Need

After someone dies, families are asked to carry grief and logistics at the same time. And in a life that runs on devices, one of the most emotional logistical questions often sounds surprisingly practical: “How do we access iCloud after death?” Sometimes you’re trying to find essential documents, sometimes you’re trying to preserve iPhone photos after death, and sometimes you simply want to close accounts safely so nothing keeps pinging, charging, or reopening the loss.

Apple’s answer to iCloud inheritance is called Apple Legacy Contact, part of Apple’s broader Apple Digital Legacy approach. When it’s set up ahead of time, it can be one of the cleanest ways for a trusted person to request access to a deceased person’s Apple Account data with an access key and a death certificate. When it wasn’t set up, Apple still provides a formal path to request access (often with a court order) or to request account deletion, but the process tends to be slower and more document-heavy.

This guide explains how the system works, what data may be available, and what families can do in the real world—both when Legacy Contact was configured and when it wasn’t—so you can move forward without guessing, rushing, or losing something important.

Why Apple treats account access differently than “just having the phone”

It’s normal to assume that if you have the iPhone in your hand, you should be able to get in. In practice, Apple separates device access from account access. Even when Apple can help remove Activation Lock in some circumstances, Apple notes that an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch protected by a passcode is protected by passcode encryption and Apple can’t remove the passcode lock without erasing the device. That means a “workaround” approach often ends in permanent data loss.

Apple’s Legacy Contact design is meant to respect privacy even after death, while still giving families a secure, legitimate path when permission was granted ahead of time. Apple’s platform security documentation explains that the Legacy Contact access key does not include what’s necessary to decrypt the deceased person’s iCloud Keychain, which is one reason passwords and passkeys aren’t simply handed over through this process.

What Apple Legacy Contact is, in plain language

A Apple Legacy Contact is someone the account holder chooses while alive to have access to the data stored in their Apple Account after death. When the person is added as a Legacy Contact, Apple generates an access key that must be kept safe. Apple’s support guidance is explicit: the Legacy Contact needs both the access key and the death certificate to make the request, and they’ll need the access key again later to sign in and access data.

If you are researching Apple Legacy Contact because you are planning ahead, that’s the heart of it: name a trusted person, ensure they actually receive and keep the access key, and treat it like a critical estate document. If you are researching because someone has already died, the questions become: did they set it up, and can you locate the key?

Helpful Apple references for families and planners include Apple’s instructions on how to add a Legacy Contact and Apple’s after-death process on requesting access as a Legacy Contact.

What data a Legacy Contact may be able to access—and what is excluded

Families often picture Legacy Contact as “full access to everything.” It’s more accurate to think of it as access to specific categories of iCloud and backup data, with meaningful exclusions. Apple publishes an itemized list of what data types a Legacy Contact may be able to access depending on what the account holder stored in iCloud and iCloud Backup, and Apple also lists categories that are not available.

Data that may be available through Legacy Contact access

• iCloud Photos
• Notes
• Mail
• Contacts
• Calendars
• Reminders
• Messages in iCloud
• Call history
• Files stored in iCloud Drive
• Health Data
• Voice Memos
• Safari Bookmarks and Reading List
• iCloud Backup (which may include downloaded apps, photos and videos stored on-device, device settings, and other backup content not excluded)

Data that is not available through Legacy Contact access

• Licensed media (movies, music, books)
• In-app purchases (including subscriptions purchased inside an app)
• Payment information (Apple Account payment methods, Apple Pay cards)
• Information stored in iCloud Keychain (including passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and certain internet account credentials)

Apple’s full “data available vs. excluded” explanation is published here: Data that a Legacy Contact can access. For families, the practical takeaway is that Legacy Contact can help preserve memories and important files, but it is not a substitute for a broader digital plan that includes how to securely store and transfer passwords.

If you want a calm, real-family guide to how people actually store password manager instructions, recovery details, and digital access plans, Funeral.com’s Journal article Storing Passwords and Digital Legacy Details pairs naturally with Apple’s tool, because it covers the “everything Apple can’t legally provide” side of the equation.

How families request access when they have the access key

If you have the access key and a death certificate, Apple’s process is comparatively straightforward. Apple explains that you can start the request on a supported device (via Apple Account settings) or on the web via the Digital Legacy request page. Apple also describes the review step: Apple verifies the information, and if approved, you receive a special “legacy contact Apple Account” to access the deceased person’s account data. Apple further notes that account access is time-limited: you generally have three years from when the first legacy request is approved before the legacy account is permanently deleted.

You can begin the request using Apple’s Digital Legacy portal at Digital Legacy, and Apple’s step-by-step overview is here: Request access to an Apple Account as a Legacy Contact.

If you are doing this in the first days after a death, it helps to slow down and do one stabilizing thing before you upload documents: secure the devices and avoid repeated sign-in attempts. Too many guesses can lock accounts and create delays. Funeral.com’s guide Digital Accounts After a Death: A Practical Closure Checklist is useful here because it emphasizes device-first safety and preserving what matters before you start closing accounts.

How to set it up ahead of time (and what families often miss)

Planning ahead tends to feel abstract—until you’ve watched a family get stuck. If you are planning your own iCloud inheritance, Apple’s guidance on adding a Legacy Contact is clear that the key step is sharing the access key and ensuring your Legacy Contact can actually retrieve it later. On modern devices, the key can be stored automatically in the recipient’s Apple Account settings if they accept the request, but Apple also allows printing and offline storage, including keeping a copy with estate planning documents.

That “offline copy” is where many families either succeed or fail. When grief is fresh, no one wants to dig through drawers for a code. But when no code exists, you often need a court order. A realistic plan is to store the access key the same way you store other must-find documents: with your will, your advance directives, and your “call this person first” list.

If you want a broader planning framework that includes digital accounts alongside traditional decisions, Funeral.com’s End-of-Life Planning Checklist and Digital Legacy Planning articles can help you integrate Apple’s tool into a complete, usable plan.

What families can do if Legacy Contact was not configured

When no Legacy Contact was set up (or when the access key is lost), families often feel trapped between two fears: losing precious content if they erase devices, and leaving accounts open indefinitely if they can’t access them. Apple’s support guidance addresses this situation directly. Apple explains that if you don’t have a Legacy Contact access key, you can still request access to the deceased person’s Apple Account and data using other options, and Apple also provides a path to request permanent deletion of the Apple Account.

In the U.S. and other locales, Apple states that you may request access with a court order that names you as the rightful inheritor of the deceased person’s personal information, and Apple lists what details the order generally needs to specify. Apple notes that documentation requirements vary by country and region, which is one reason this process can feel slow and inconsistent.

The best starting point for this scenario is Apple’s official overview: How to request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account. This page also reiterates a critical limitation: passcode-locked devices can’t be unlocked without erasing the device, even if Apple can assist with other account-related steps.

In the meantime, you can still do meaningful, protective work while you wait for legal steps. Keep the device safe and charged, preserve any physical paperwork you find (including carrier statements and Apple receipts), and avoid “unlock services” that are not authorized. If the deceased person’s phone number is still active, consider keeping the line active temporarily because it can be tied to two-factor authentication flows for other accounts.

Where this fits into funeral planning (and why families feel stretched)

Digital tasks can feel strangely exhausting because they arrive alongside decisions that are already heavy: choosing a provider, ordering death certificates, notifying banks, and deciding what kind of memorial fits your person. Funeral.com’s First Week After a Death checklist is designed for that exact overlap, and it can help families sequence tasks so you’re not trying to solve everything at once.

At the same time, modern memorial choices often live in the same “planning lane” as digital legacy. National trends help explain why. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate is projected to be 63.4% in 2025 (with burial projected at 31.6%), and the Cremation Association of North America reports a 61.8% U.S. cremation rate for 2024. As cremation becomes the majority choice, more families are managing both the practical question of how much does cremation cost and the personal question of what to do next with remains and memories.

That is why families often find themselves thinking about physical keepsakes and digital keepsakes in the same week. If you are planning a memorial after cremation, Funeral.com’s collections for cremation urns for ashes, small cremation urns, and keepsake urns are practical starting points for browsing at your own pace. If your family is exploring cremation jewelry as a way to share a small portion, you can browse cremation necklaces and read cremation jewelry 101 for filling and care guidance. If your plan includes keeping ashes at home for a period of time, this guide is designed for real households: keeping ashes at home. And if the plan involves water burial, Funeral.com’s practical explainer can help you plan without last-minute stress: water burial.

None of these choices need to be made in the same hour you are requesting a legacy account. The point is simply that your grief is not “too much” for the number of decisions in front of you. The modern checklist is bigger. Having a reliable path for Apple account access can take one whole category of anxiety off the table.

A calm, practical sequence for families right now

If you are in the middle of this today, the sequence matters more than speed. Start by confirming whether you are a Legacy Contact and whether the access key exists. If you find it, use Apple’s official request process. If you cannot find it, stop guessing and shift into documentation mode: gather the death certificate, confirm who has legal authority in the estate, and use Apple’s “request access” or “request deletion” pathways rather than trying to bypass device security.

Alongside that, keep the digital house stable: secure devices, keep important phone numbers active temporarily when possible, and work account-by-account in a way that preserves what you care about before you start closing accounts. Funeral.com’s Closing Accounts and Subscriptions After a Death guide can help you decide what to cancel now versus what to keep briefly while you untangle access and prevent autopay surprises.

And if you are planning ahead for yourself, consider Legacy Contact as a kindness. Apple itself encourages users to add a Legacy Contact or include an inheritance plan in a will that covers personal information stored on devices and in iCloud, because it can reduce delay and frustration for surviving family members.

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