What happens to your Facebook and Instagram account when you die?
A Facebook or Instagram account can be turned into a memorial or removed after someone dies. On Facebook you can name a Legacy Contact now to look after your memorialized profile.
Set this up now: Legacy Contact (Facebook)
On Facebook, name a Legacy Contact who can look after your memorialized profile, or choose to have the account deleted when you die. Instagram has no advance setting, so note down what you’d want done with it.
If nothing is set up
A family member can ask Meta to memorialize or remove the account, but it takes proof such as a death certificate, and no one is ever given the login. Instagram won’t hand over login details for a memorialized profile.
In Canada, federal privacy law (PIPEDA, s. 7(3)(h)(ii)) can keep a provider from releasing a person’s data for up to twenty years after death. That’s exactly why setting a platform’s own legacy tool up in advance matters: it’s the difference between your family reaching what you left them and a decades-long lock.
Put this in a plan
List your accounts, decide what should happen to each, and keep it somewhere your family can actually reach. Free, and it stays in your browser until you choose to save it.
Common questions
What happens to a Facebook and Instagram account when someone dies?
A Facebook or Instagram account can be turned into a memorial or removed after someone dies. On Facebook you can name a Legacy Contact now to look after your memorialized profile. A family member can ask Meta to memorialize or remove the account, but it takes proof such as a death certificate, and no one is ever given the login. Instagram won’t hand over login details for a memorialized profile.
How do I set up Legacy Contact (Facebook) for my Facebook and Instagram account?
On Facebook, name a Legacy Contact who can look after your memorialized profile, or choose to have the account deleted when you die. Instagram has no advance setting, so note down what you’d want done with it.
Can my family get into my Facebook and Instagram account after I die in Canada?
A family member can ask Meta to memorialize or remove the account, but it takes proof such as a death certificate, and no one is ever given the login. Instagram won’t hand over login details for a memorialized profile. On top of the provider’s own rules, Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA) can restrict the release of a deceased person’s personal information for up to twenty years. Planning ahead with the platform’s built-in tools is the reliable way to avoid that.
Confirmed against Facebook and Instagram’s official help pages on 2026-07-02. Policies change, so check the links below before you act. This is general information, not legal advice.