Minor’s Apple ID still controlled by deceased parent (Family Sharing / Activation Lock) , what's the safest way forward?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Minor’s Apple ID still controlled by deceased parent (Family Sharing / Activation Lock) , what's the safest way forward?

Hello,

I am looking for guidance on a complex Family Sharing and Apple ID situation involving a minor and a deceased parent. I have visited the Apple Store twice and spoken with AppleCare four times, but so far I have not been able to resolve the issue.

Context:

My nephew is 12 years old.
His Apple ID was originally created by his father under Family Sharing.
The father was the Family Sharing organizer.
The father has passed away.
The mother is now the sole legal guardian.

The child can unlock his iPhone and iPad normally (passcode / Face ID work), but the devices are no longer usable in practice.

After we added an iPad (iPad Pro 2019) to the child’s Apple ID last week, the iPhone automatically removed all apps that had previously been approved by the father. Since then, the iPhone constantly displays prompts requesting approval from the deceased father’s Apple ID. These prompts interrupt navigation so frequently that the iPhone is practically unusable, including for basic tasks such as making phone calls.

The child currently cannot:

Download apps
Make purchases
Erase the devices from Settings

All of these actions require approval from the deceased father’s Apple ID.

Important details

We can access Settings on both devices (iPhone and iPad).
We have not erased or restored either device yet, it is not even possible.
Attempting to erase the iPhone or iPad from Settings requires the father’s approval.

The most recent guidance from AppleCare suggested using recovery mode (connecting the devices to a computer and restoring them) to bypass Screen Time restrictions, then creating a new Apple ID for the child. However, from what I have read online, there is skepticism about this approach, because after restoring, the device may still request the father’s Apple ID and password due to Activation Lock, potentially leaving the iPhone or iPad unusable.

We do not care about preserving the child’s existing Apple ID or any data. Our priority is simply for the child to be able to use his iPhone and iPad normally again, even if that means starting fresh with a new Apple ID.

Concern: Activation Lock

My concern is Activation Lock. I understand that:

Recovery mode bypasses Screen Time and Family Sharing restrictions.
However, if Find My / Activation Lock is enabled under the father’s Apple ID, the device may still require the father’s Apple ID after a restore.

Given that:

The child was under 13
The father was the Family Sharing organizer
Erase from Settings is blocked without the father’s approval

I am trying to determine:

Whether recovery mode + restore is safe in this situation
Whether Activation Lock is likely to appear and block the devices
Whether there is a reliable way to confirm which Apple ID controls Activation Lock before restoring

Additional information

We have the father’s death certificate. We also have legal documentation showing the mother is now the sole legal guardian. We have one of the original purchase receipts (iPad Pro) registered under the child’s Apple ID.

The father’s own iPhone was not protected by a passcode. After his death, another child signed out of the father’s Apple ID on that device and signed in with their own Apple ID. As a result, access to the father’s Apple ID is no longer possible, and removing the minor from the deceased father’s Family Sharing account is not an option.

If the recommended and safest path is instead to go through Apple’s Activation Lock removal process using documentation, we are prepared to do so; we would simply like confirmation that this is the correct approach.

Additional question

One additional question we have is whether there is any possibility for Apple to delete or formally close the deceased father’s Apple ID, and if so, whether that action would automatically:

Release the child from the deceased father’s Family Sharing account
Remove any Screen Time and purchase approval requirements tied to the father
Release the iPhone and iPad from any Activation Lock or Find My association linked to the father’s Apple ID

In other words, if Apple were to close the father’s Apple ID based on a death certificate and legal documentation, would the child’s devices and Apple ID become usable as an independent account (at least temporarily), allowing us to later add the child to the mother’s Family Sharing account?

We are unsure whether this is something Apple supports in practice, or whether device-level Activation Lock must still be handled separately, even after an Apple ID is closed.

Thank you.

Posted on Dec 27, 2025 5:34 AM

Reply

Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

91,220 points

Dec 27, 2025 7:51 AM in response to zyser

You need to gain access to the father’s account. How to request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account - Apple Support

You should then be able to remove family sharing and ensure that the child’s devices are no longer administres through that account.

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Answer 2

zyser Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 27, 2025 8:18 AM in response to muguy

Thank you for the suggestion.

Just to clarify, this was actually the first path we tried with AppleCare. During several calls, we explicitly asked whether it was possible to gain access to the deceased father’s Apple ID in order to manage Family Sharing and remove the child from “My Family.”

AppleCare did not proceed with that option. Instead, we were repeatedly redirected to general support pages and documentation, which did not provide a concrete way to resolve this situation. Even the link you shared does not offer a clear mechanism for submitting the required legal documents, and despite raising this point, AppleCare did not move forward with our request.

I plan to contact AppleCare one more time.

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Answer 3

muguy

Level 10

91,220 points

Dec 27, 2025 8:52 AM in response to zyser

The corporate addresses is provided in the link within the appropriate section. Your court order must contain the details as listed under. "Request access with a court order or other legal documentation."

The name and Apple Account of the deceased person.
The name of the next of kin who is requesting access to the decedent’s account.
That the decedent was the user of all accounts associated with the Apple Account.
That the requestor is the decedent’s legal personal representative, agent, or heir, whose authorization constitutes “lawful consent.”
That Apple is ordered by the court to assist in the provision of access to the decedent’s information from the deceased person's accounts. The court order should be addressed to the relevant Apple entity.

In the United States, the relevant entity is: Apple Inc., One Apple Park Way, Cupertino, California 95014

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Answer 4

Dec 27, 2025 10:15 AM in response to zyser

zyser wrote:

Just to clarify, this was actually the first path we tried with AppleCare. During several calls, we explicitly asked whether it was possible to gain access to the deceased father’s Apple ID in order to manage Family Sharing and remove the child from “My Family.”

…

I plan to contact AppleCare one more time.

Don’t get ahead of the whole process.

Gain access to the Apple Account.

Then deal with Family Sharing.

Bringing Family Sharing into this probably just confused the Apple reps.

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Answer 5

Limnos

Level 10

427,403 points

Dec 28, 2025 6:26 PM in response to zyser

The Apple Care team are not the ones to contact about this. Apple Care is simply extended warranty. You need to be contacting the legal team as instructed in other posts. This requires specific documentation and a court order. Calling Apple and asking them to do this will not result in them turning over access to the account to you.

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Answer 6

zyser Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 29, 2025 8:15 AM in response to Limnos

Thank you for the replies. I would like to clarify a point, because some assumptions are being made about how AppleCare became involved.

I did not independently decide to contact AppleCare or attempt to bypass any process. During an in-person hardware appointment at an official Apple Store, I asked Apple staff how to proceed with this situation. The expert staff at the Apple Store explicitly provided me with a phone number and instructed me to contact AppleCare as the correct next step. They understood the problem and said on their end they cannot do anything.

My initial calls to AppleCare were therefore procedural and based on Apple's own suggestion, not speculation or an attempt to shortcut the process. During those calls, we explicitly asked whether access to the deceased father's Apple ID could be requested in order to resolve Family Sharing. That path was not initiated by AppleCare at the time; instead, we were redirected to general documentation, sometimes to unhelpful tips.

At this stage, my goal here is not to debate policy, but to understand the safest operational path forward that avoids placing the devices into an unrecoverable Activation Lock state. If the correct approach is formal legal escalation via Apple's account access process, we are prepared to follow that route; I am simply trying to confirm that before attempting any restore that could permanently lock the devices.

I would also like to add a broader observation directed at Apple, as this situation appears to expose a design inconsistency in the current logic.

At present, it is possible to register and activate new hardware (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch) under a minor's Apple ID without any parental approval, even when that minor is fully governed by Family Sharing. However, once those devices are associated with the minor's Apple ID, fundamental actions such as erasing the device, signing out, or resetting it to factory settings are blocked and require approval from the Family Sharing organizer.

This asymmetry feels illogical. It allows new hardware to be bound to a minor's Apple ID that may already be in an unrecoverable state (for example, when the Family Sharing organizer is deceased), while simultaneously preventing any safe rollback or recovery of that new hardware.

From a system design perspective, it would seem more coherent if approval from the Family Sharing organizer were required before allowing new devices to be registered under a minor's Apple ID. In the absence of such approval, the device could remain unbound and usable by another user, rather than becoming locked into a configuration that cannot later be reversed.

At this point, we still have not reached a resolution. We are trying to understand precisely which documents Apple requires and through which channel they must be submitted. We also understand that this process may take weeks or longer, and we want to ensure that everything is prepared correctly before proceeding.

Based on our experience so far, both at the Apple Store and during multiple calls, this appears to be a complex edge case that is not well understood or consistently handled by frontline support.

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Answer 7

Dec 29, 2025 8:56 AM in response to zyser

To send your feedback to Apple on this topic, call the 408 number listed or write to the corporate postal address here: Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

Again, gain access to the Apple Account, then deal with Family Sharing.

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Answer 8

Limnos

Level 10

427,403 points

Dec 29, 2025 9:20 AM in response to zyser

To go back to your account access issue, the article How to request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account - Apple Support lists what is required. Once you have that court order where a judge has literally required Apple legally to let you have access to the account, Apple then advises that you contact Apple about the next steps. Unless somebody replying here has done this previously, we only really know what Apple advises in that document. I know that muguy said to send it to Apple at their mailing address, but this is an international forum and we do not know where you are located. Proceedings may vary according to location and you should contact Apple and ask them since that is what they advise. I will note that the link Apple provides in the support article does not correspond to the "408" USA-only number that MrHoffman provided and I would tend to follow what Apple itself recommends.

Doing this access is a separate procedure from doing things with Family Sharing.

If you have recommendations as to Family Sharing procedure, click on this link for Apple products feedback links --> Product Feedback - Apple

Apple may not respond but your comment will be read.

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Answer 9

Dec 29, 2025 10:16 AM in response to Limnos

Limnos wrote:

... I will note that the link Apple provides in the support article does not correspond to the "408" USA-only number that MrHoffman provided and I would tend to follow what Apple itself recommends. …

That 408 or postal address was for providing feedback to Apple on their support responses, hence the “To send your feedback to Apple on this topic…“ there.

Product feedback has no category for reporting confusion within Apple Support.

Given the forums are severely unstable, I’m done here.

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