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What happens to your Facebook account if you pass away
Choosing your legacy contact is currently only available for your main profile and doesn’t apply to additional Facebook profiles. You can choose to either appoint a legacy contact to look after your memorialized main profile or have your account permanently deleted from Facebook.
If you don't choose to have your account permanently deleted, only your main profile will be memorialized if we become aware of your passing.
Memorialized profiles
Memorialized profiles are a place for friends and family to gather and share memories after a person has passed away. Memorialized profiles have the following key features:
  • The word Remembering will be shown next to the person's name on their profile.
  • Depending on the privacy settings of the profile, friends can share memories on the memorialized timeline.
  • Content the person shared (example: photos, posts) stays on Facebook and is visible on Facebook to the audience it was shared with.
  • Memorialized profiles don't appear in suggestions for People You May Know, ads or birthday reminders.
  • No one can log into the account of a memorialized profile.
  • Memorialized profiles that don't have a legacy contact can't be changed.
  • Pages with a sole admin whose profile was memorialized will be removed from Facebook if we receive a valid memorialization request.
  • Groups with a sole admin whose profile was memorialized will be paused if we receive a valid memorialization request.
Legacy contacts
A legacy contact is someone you choose to look after your profile if it's memorialized. We strongly suggest setting a legacy contact so your profile can be managed once it's memorialized. You can change your legacy contact to someone else at any time.
A legacy contact can accept friend requests on behalf of a memorialized profile, change the profile picture, change the cover photo and even have it deleted whenever they choose.
They can also download a copy of what you've shared on Facebook, if you have this feature turned on.
To remove a legacy contact without choosing a new one, select Delete after death. This deletes an account immediately and completely after we receive proof of death, so we strongly suggest you share this preference with your loved ones.
Once Memorialization is initiated, you must always have one of the options selected. If you do not select either option, anyone within the proper documents can request to memorialize your account after you pass away.
Note:
  • No changes can be made to memorialized accounts that do not have legacy contacts.
  • You can’t select a legacy contact if you are a minor. The age at which you are no longer considered a minor varies by region.
Learn more about what legacy contacts can do and how to add a legacy contact to your account.
Deleting your account when you pass away
You can choose to have your account permanently deleted should you pass away. This means that when someone lets us know that you’ve passed away, all of your messages, photos, posts, comments, reactions and info will be immediately and permanently removed from Facebook. Your main profile and any additional Facebook profiles will also be deleted.
We strongly suggest you share this preference with your loved ones.
To un-select Delete after death, you must select a legacy contact.
Note: If you are a minor and choose the Delete after death option, you will not be able to change this setting until you are no longer considered a minor.
Manage your memorialization preference in Accounts Center
Request that your account be deleted
  1. Tap Menu in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Below Settings & Privacy, tap Settings.
  3. Tap Accounts Center.
  4. Tap Personal details, then tap Account ownership and control.
  5. Tap Memorialization, then tap your profile.
  6. Tap Delete after death.
  7. Tap Next, then tap Save.
For friends and family
If you'd like to create another place for people on Facebook to share memories of your loved one, we suggest creating a group.
Learn how to request the memorialization of an account or how to request the removal of a deceased person's account from Facebook.
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