The Phone You Can't Get Into: What Families Need to Know About Digital Assets After a Death

Published 2026-09-10 by Navigate After Loss

There is a moment after someone dies when you realize just how much of their life is inside a phone.

Photos.

Text messages.

Contacts.

Banking apps.

Email.

Passwords.

Two-factor authentication codes.

Notes.

Documents.

Subscriptions.

Travel information.

Years of memories.

Sometimes, the phone is the key to everything else you need to untangle.

And then you discover something incredibly frustrating:

You don't know the passcode.

You might be the spouse.

The parent.

The child.

The executor.

The person who handled every other detail of their life.

And still, you may not be able to get into their phone.

This is one of the cruelest practical realities of losing someone in today's digital world.

"But I'm their spouse. Why can't I just unlock their phone?"

Because a phone doesn't know you're their spouse.

It doesn't know you're the executor of the estate.

It doesn't know that you're the person who shared a home, a bank account, a life and 20 years of memories with the person whose name is on the device.

It knows one thing:

Is the person trying to access this device authorized to do so?

That distinction matters.

Modern phones are intentionally designed to make unauthorized access extremely difficult. A device passcode can be part of the security architecture protecting the information stored on the device. With Apple devices, for example, Apple says that a passcode-locked device is protected by passcode encryption and that Apple cannot remove the passcode lock without erasing the device.

That means knowing that your loved one owned the phone does not necessarily mean you can access what is inside it.

And that can be devastating.

Because you may need information from that phone to manage the very estate you're now responsible for.

The two-factor authentication problem

Then there's two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication is wonderful when you're alive and trying to protect your accounts.

After death, it can become another locked door.

You may know the password to an account.

But when you try to sign in, the service sends a verification code to:

• The person's phone
• Their phone number
• Their trusted device
• An authentication app
• An email account you can't access
• Another device you don't have
• A security key

So you have the password.

But you don't have the second factor.

And you're stuck.

This is one reason getting into the phone can be so important. The phone may contain the very authentication method you need to access other accounts.

And the cycle can become maddening:

You need the phone to get into the account.

You need the account to get into something else.

And you need something else to get into the phone.

This is not a failure on your part.

The system was designed to prevent exactly the kind of access you're now trying to obtain.

What about Face ID or facial recognition?

This is where things get even more complicated.

A grieving family member may think:

"Can't I just use Face ID? The phone recognizes their face."

Unfortunately, it isn't that simple.

Biometric authentication is designed with security safeguards. On Apple devices, for example, Face ID does not replace the device passcode in every circumstance. There are situations in which the passcode is required instead.

And even if a phone recognizes a person's face, that does not automatically mean a surviving family member should attempt to use the deceased person's face to unlock the device.

There can be legal, privacy and evidentiary issues surrounding access to someone's digital information after death.

The law is not as simple as:

"I'm the spouse, therefore I own everything in the phone."

The law doesn't necessarily treat all digital information the same way

This is one of the most important things families need to understand.

Digital assets aren't all the same.

A photograph stored in the cloud isn't necessarily treated the same way as a private text message.

A cryptocurrency wallet isn't the same as an email account.

A domain name isn't the same as a social-media account.

And access to someone's financial information isn't necessarily the same as access to their private communications.

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act—often referred to as RUFADAA—was developed to address some of these issues. It generally allows fiduciaries to manage certain digital property, but it places additional restrictions on electronic communications such as emails, texts and social-media messages unless the person who died provided consent through an appropriate legal instrument or other authorized record.

And state laws matter.

The rules governing digital assets can vary depending on where the person lived, what type of asset is involved and what estate-planning documents exist.

That's why being the next of kin isn't always the same thing as having unrestricted digital access.

Apple and Google have their own processes

Technology companies also have their own rules.

Apple, for example, has a Digital Legacy program that allows someone to designate a Legacy Contact before death. A Legacy Contact can request access using an access key and proof of death.

If there is no Legacy Contact, Apple may require additional legal documentation. In the United States, Apple currently states that a court order may be required in some circumstances, and some data may remain inaccessible because it is end-to-end encrypted.

Google similarly has a process for requests involving deceased users. Google says it may work with immediate family members and representatives in certain circumstances, but it does not provide passwords or other login credentials and reviews requests carefully because of its privacy and security obligations.

Google also offers an Inactive Account Manager, which allows someone while alive to designate people who can receive certain account data after a period of inactivity.

In other words, there may be a path forward.

But the path may involve paperwork, proof of death, proof of authority, account-specific procedures—and sometimes a court order.

Don't make the mistake of assuming "digital assets" means cryptocurrency

When people hear "digital assets," they often think about Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.

Those are certainly digital assets.

But your loved one's digital life is much bigger than that.

Think about:

Financial

• Banking apps
• Investment accounts
• Payment apps
• Cryptocurrency
• Digital wallets
• Tax records

Personal

• Photos
• Videos
• Text messages
• Emails
• Voice recordings
• Notes

Household

• Utility accounts
• Security systems
• Smart-home devices
• Online shopping accounts
• Subscription services

Business

• Websites
• Domains
• Social-media accounts
• Business email
• Cloud storage
• Customer databases

Digital property

• Online businesses
• Digital photographs
• Intellectual property
• Domain names
• Digital files

And then there are the accounts you don't even know exist.

That's what makes this so overwhelming after a sudden death.

You're trying to discover someone's digital life while simultaneously grieving the loss of their physical presence.

What you should do before trying to get into anything

If you're dealing with a recent death, slow down before repeatedly attempting passwords or access methods.

Start by creating an inventory.

Look for:

• Their phone and tablet
• Computers
• Password managers
• Written password lists
• Recovery codes
• Security keys
• Trusted devices
• Email addresses
• Cloud accounts
• Financial institutions
• Cryptocurrency information
• Estate-planning documents
• Digital Legacy or legacy-contact information

Also look through their estate documents for language addressing digital assets.

And document what you find.

Don't assume that because you can technically get into something, you're legally authorized to access or use everything you find there.

When you're unsure, talk to an estate attorney who understands digital assets.

The best time to solve this problem is before someone dies

This is the part I wish more people understood.

You don't have to give someone your passwords.

You don't have to give someone unlimited access to your private life.

But you do need a plan.

For Apple users, that could include setting up a Legacy Contact. For Google users, it could include Inactive Account Manager.

You can also make sure the person you trust knows: where the important information is stored.

They don't necessarily need the passwords themselves.

They need to know how to find the roadmap.

Because after a death, the person left behind shouldn't have to become a digital detective.

The hardest part isn't always the technology

After my husband's death, I learned that grief comes with an enormous administrative workload.

People talk about the funeral.

They talk about the flowers.

They talk about the obituary.

But they don't always talk about the passwords.

The phone.

The accounts.

The verification codes.

The subscriptions.

The photos.

The digital life that doesn't stop just because the person did.

And sometimes, you're sitting there holding the phone of the person you love, knowing that some of the last pieces of their life are inside it—and you can't get past the lock screen.

That's a uniquely modern kind of heartbreak.

The security that protected them while they were alive can become one more obstacle for the person trying to take care of everything after they're gone.

So if you haven't had this conversation with the people you love, have it.

Ask:

What happens to your digital life if you die tomorrow?

Who should have access?

Where are the passwords?

Who is your Legacy Contact?

Where are the recovery codes?

What happens to your photos?

What happens to your email?

What happens to your social media?

And perhaps most importantly:

Who will know where to start?