How do I get into his phone, computer and email?

The short answer

There are proper ways in, and they are slower than guessing. Keep his phone line working, look for wherever the passwords were written down, and use each company's own process for a person who has died. Back up the photos first, as soon as you have a proper way in.

Some of his accounts may stay closed to you. His bank and card statements, his mail and his tax forms still show most of what those accounts paid for, and you can use them without any password.

This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.

What to do

1. Keep his phone line active and paid.
2. Look for a written list of passwords, or a password manager.
3. Back up his photos as soon as you have a proper way in.
4. Find out whether he named a legacy contact with Apple, Google or another company.
5. Use each company's own process for a person who has died, and ask the lawyer before signing in as him anywhere.
6. Move each account that sends codes to his phone, one at a time.
7. Decide about the phone line once nothing depends on it.

What can wait

• Closing or memorializing his social media.
• Deleting anything: messages, photos, files or whole accounts.
• Reading his messages and email. Copying them is enough for now.

Who can help

Each company's help pages describe its process for a person who has died, and a helper or a librarian at your public library can go through them with you. The phone company's store can help with his line and his phone.

The estate's lawyer knows what your state's paperwork requires. Without one, your state or local bar association runs a referral service, found through americanbar.org/directories/lawyer-referral-directory. For free civil legal aid for people on low incomes, go to lsc.gov.

Legal help for people 60 and over is available regardless of income through the Area Agency on Aging. The Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116, finds yours.

The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.

Hear when the next book is out

Five or six short emails a year at most, and a note when a new book is out. Each one is about something that tends to come up in the first two years. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.