The phone is locked and its owner has died — what now?

Why the phone is the biggest obstacle of all

At first glance a smartphone seems trivial compared with bank accounts or a will. In practice it is often the single biggest obstacle. The reason is simple: almost every service that sends a two-factor confirmation — the bank, the email account, cloud storage, social media — sends the code straight to that device. Without the device the code never arrives, and without the code the account cannot be reset. The phone is not just a gadget; it is the key to almost everything else.

The very lock that protects during life becomes a wall after death. The honest answer up front: without preparation there is no reliable way in. Neither a family member, nor a notary, nor — contrary to what many assume — the manufacturer itself can simply open a modern smartphone.

Apple: why even the manufacturer cannot help

Many families walk into an Apple Store expecting a technician to open the device. That does not happen. For years Apple has encrypted iPhones so that the passcode or Face ID is itself part of the encryption key — Apple holds no master key that could bypass it. This is true regardless of urgency, and a court order changes nothing here either, because no technical back door exists.

What Apple offers instead are two features that must be set up in advance:

• Recovery Contact: helps you during your lifetime if you lock yourself out — it is not meant for after death.
• Legacy Contact: built exactly for this. The named person, once they present an access key (issued by Apple at setup) and a death certificate, gets access to much of the iCloud data: photos, notes, documents, calendars, messages, device backups.

What the Legacy Contact does not get: purchased movies, music, apps and books, since these are personal licences rather than transferable property. Passwords and payment details stored in Keychain are also excluded — considered too sensitive for automated handover.

If no Legacy Contact was set up, the only remaining path is a court-supported request limited to specific iCloud content — the device itself remains locked regardless, and the process is far slower with a far less certain outcome.

Google: the Inactive Account Manager, and the request that follows

On Android devices it is usually less the device itself and more the Google account behind it that matters — it controls cloud backup, photos, email and often device restore. Google offers the Inactive Account Manager, a tool set up during life: you choose a wait time (say three, six or twelve months of inactivity), plus up to ten trusted people who are then notified by email and given access to previously selected data categories — photos, contacts, Drive files, YouTube content and more, depending on what you choose.

If the Inactive Account Manager was never set up, family members can try a separate request process to gain access to a deceased person's account or have it closed. Google reviews such requests case by case, requires evidence such as a death certificate and proof of identity, and makes no promise that content will be released — the outcome is considerably less certain than with prior setup.

Why the main email account is the real master key

As important as the phone is, the main email address is often even more decisive, because almost every other account can be reset through it: banking apps, social media, cloud storage, online shops. Whoever has access to that one address can usually reach almost everything else, even if the phone itself stays locked. That is why it is worth preparing this single access point especially carefully — through a recovery code or trusted contacts at the email provider.

What providers generally require

Whether or not prior setup exists, virtually every provider requires a combination of the following before they act at all:

• Death certificate — the baseline proof without which no provider moves.
• Certificate of inheritance or executor's certificate — proof that the applicant is entitled to act on behalf of the estate. With a Legacy Contact already set up, this is often not needed.
• Proof of identity of the person making the request.

Realistically, gathering these documents alone takes weeks — a German certificate of inheritance can take several months, depending on the probate court and the complexity of the estate. Anyone relying on this route should plan for that timeline rather than hoping for a quick fix.

The legal basis: the 2018 Federal Court of Justice ruling

Many families wonder whether they even have a right to access — after all, "opening someone else's account" sounds at first like a breach of data protection or telecommunications secrecy. Germany's Federal Court of Justice settled this in a closely watched 2018 case (judgment of 12 July 2018, case no. III ZR 183/17): digital accounts pass to the heirs by universal succession, exactly like a tenancy agreement or a savings account. This explicitly includes content — messages, chats, shared posts.

In practice this means the right of access is almost always there. What is missing is almost always the technical means to enforce that right — which is exactly why prior setup is so valuable.

Providers compared

The table below shows how differently the major manufacturers handle locked devices and accounts after a death.

Prepare in five minutes

The good news: both decisive settings take just a few minutes. Doing this now spares your family months later.

This article is part of our complete guide to digital estate planning, which also explains how email accounts, subscriptions and crypto assets connect — and how a checklist helps you organise all of it in one afternoon.