How do I remove Activation Lock of a deceased family member's iPad mini?

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Level 1

4 points

How do I remove Activation Lock of a deceased family member's iPad mini?

A family member has died about a month ago. Their iPad mini 5 is going to be given to my mom to replace her old iPad mini 2. Their iPad Air 3 is given to my sister. But the iPad mini 5 has activation lock on it. How to I fix this to give this iPad to my mom?

Here is a story of the account of this member:

We left to travel, but when we returned, the family member’s account was locked for “suspicious activity” that came from some mischievous thief. That person tried to unlock my family member’s account, which locked it. Now, it hasn’t been unlocked at all and the password of the account is gone forever, since it wasn’t written down. Now how will I give this iPad to my mom?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPad mini (5th generation)

Posted on Apr 25, 2025 6:22 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

muguy

Level 10

94,360 points

Apr 25, 2025 6:52 PM in response to zachariah264

See How to request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Apr 25, 2025 6:24 PM in response to zachariah264

First of all, sorry about your loss. I know it's extremely difficult to deal with these things after losing a loved one.

If you folks can gain access to the purchase receipt for the ipad, it's possible to visit https://al-support.apple.com and submit a request for Activation Lock removal there.

I hope this information has been helpful to you!

Godspeed

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Answer 3

H1290

Level 6

10,690 points

Apr 25, 2025 7:50 PM in response to zachariah264

zachariah264 wrote:

This didn’t help with removing activation lock for a locked account.

There’s no easy way to do this, especially with the owner of the iPad having passed on. You will need to provide a death certificate and maybe even a court order, depending on where you live. Carefully read through the article that muguy shared, then take steps as suggested.

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Answer 4

zachariah264 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 26, 2025 7:14 AM in response to muguy

I don’t know if the family member had legacy contacts. I don’t think so because the family member only used iPads, not iPhones. Also, they used Android. Several days after the death, my mom decided to buy iPhones for herself, for me, and my sister.

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