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Level 1

40 points

What happens to iCloud when I die?

Slightly morbid question I know but I'm in the process of writing a will and I'm curious as to what happens to all my Apple owned or managed assets like my iTunes purchases and my photos in the event of my death? When my grandfather died we simply went from room to room and got things like photo albums and his books but, with a large percentage of my stuff being digital, what happens with regards to ownership?

Given how strict companies like Apple are on things like access, I doubt it's just as simple as leaving my username & password written down somewhere, or is it? And yes, I know I can download files to my computer but what about transferring them across to my benefactor's accounts?

Anyhow, seems like something that's going to crop up more and more in future years.

iPhone 6, iOS 11.4.1

Posted on Aug 17, 2018 11:05 PM

Best reply

Roger Wilmut1

Level 10

131,146 points

Posted on Aug 18, 2018 6:41 AM

Apple's current iCloud Terms of Use page at

https://www.apple.com/ca/legal/internet-services/icloud/en/terms.html

still says the same thing as quoted in 2012:

No Right of Survivorship

Unless otherwise required by law, You agree that your Account is non-transferable and that any rights to your Apple ID or Content within your Account terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate your Account may be terminated and all Content within your Account deleted. Contact iCloud Support at https://support.apple.com/icloud for further assistance.

This seems pretty definite. What Gail suggests would give your survivors the technical ability to access your iCloud account (and not telling Apple about your decease) but this would be a breach of the Terms of Use. if you have important family photos on iCloud I would strongly advise your making copies on somewhere that other people can access then - a data CD or DVD would have its uses here despite being sniffed at by technical whizz-kids.

Their page on Media, i.e. iTunes purchases, does not mention what happens in the even of the 'owner's' death, but we know that music and other purchases are not transferable, though the use of Family Sharing might get round this. The exact position with purchases would be a matter for checking with Apple Legal.

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What happens to iCloud when I die?

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