Asking for appleid to update apps, not all are paid apps, some are free

Conversion to 12, nightmare-4 hours on phone w/apple- changed appleid and thought fixed, can’t update apps with new ID keeps asking for an old ID that was my husband’s - he’s been deceased 3 years- so, if paid for under his id- then all my data on that app is gone? What if app is free? Why can’t I update those apps, or does it matter one way or another I’d paid or not , if that old ID was used to download, I’ve lost all data associated with that app?