Tip 252) What happens to your Facebook business page when you die?

This is a really useful guest post from Graham at Maplebrook Wills. Thanks Graham!

What happens to your Facebook business page when you die? It’s not something most of us ever think about. But you can decide today just by changing some settings – it takes less than 2 minutes.

​Here’s how to do it.

If you have a business page, you’ll naturally have admin rights to manage it. So, one option is simply to add another administrator. If there’s more than one of you in the business, you should do this now. That way, your business page will simply carry on as normal after you’ve passed away.

To add an admin, go to Settings > Page roles > Add person to page (or “Assign a new page role” on a desktop). Then type in their name and click the drop-down menu to select Admin.

If you’re a sole trader and don’t wish your business page to float around on Facebook forever, you could make a trusted family member or friend an admin and ask them to delete it when the time comes. Choose your admin carefully because, in theory, they could delete it any time!

The process for deleting a page is simple. They would simply go to Settings > General > Remove page.

Alternatively, you could give a trusted individual your own login details, along with instructions to delete your page. Make sure you leave very clear instructions on where to find the login details.

What happens if you don’t do anything? I couldn’t find the answer, so I asked Facebook. They replied: “Pages with a sole admin whose account was memorialized will be removed, if Facebook receive a valid memorialization request.”

A memorialized account is one that’s frozen after your death and has the word “Remembering” next to your name. Other people would no longer see birthday reminders for you, and your profile wouldn’t pop up under “People You May Know”.

Family members or close friends can request memorialization if they provide Facebook with proof that you’ve passed away (e.g. a death certificate). Seemingly, Facebook would then delete your business page at the same time.

But this kind of memorializing would simply freeze your Facebook profile. It’s better to nominate a “Legacy Contact” in advance, who can manage your memorialized account when the time comes. They can view and delete tribute posts, for example.

To assign a Legacy Contact, go to the Settings menu in the top right and find “Manage account”. On the phone app, this is under Settings & Privacy > Settings > [Account Settings] > Personal information > Manage Account.

Under the “Legacy Contact” heading, press the “Choose Legacy Contact” button and type in a friend’s name.

If you’d prefer your Facebook account to be deleted entirely after you die, go to Legacy Contact and scroll down to “Account Deletion”. If you press the heading, you’ll be given the option: “Yes, Delete after Death”. Someone would still need to inform Facebook that you’ve passed away.

Besides Facebook, it’s likely that you have other social media profiles and online accounts such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. If you have several, it may be worth naming a "digital executor" in your will - someone who will take the pressure off other executors by dealing with all your online accounts.

Sorting out your social media accounts is far from the only reason to get a will of course, so contact me today - I provide free home visits and free consultations in person or online via Zoom.
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Graham Southorn @MaplebrookWillsBristol