accessing a deceased family members iphone

hello all, a close relative of mine recently passed and i was wondering if there was any easy way of getting into his iphone. i am not sure off the passcode to unlock the phone. additionally i am unsure if everything currently on the phone is backed up, therefore am reluctant to use the recovery mode to reset the iphone and then recovering the data after. any help would be very appreciated as i would love to retrieve the photos and videos of my loved one, thank you