How to notify Ancestry.com when someone has passed away

Steps to notify Ancestry.com

  Verify authorization

Before starting, gather the documentation showing your legal authorization to proceed. If in doubt, double check with your estate executor, or trustee. Ancestry.com generally requires:

• Death Certificate - A death certificate is an official document issued by the government, which declares cause of death, location of death, time of death and other information about the deceased.
• Letters of Authorization - A legal document showing your authority to act on behalf of the deceased, such as Letters of Administration, Letters of Testamentary, Letters of Representation, or a court order.

 

  Identify wishes

Ancestry.com is a genealogy company helping people understand their history. Identify what the deceased's instructions are, or what they wanted to have happen to this asset when they passed away. This is usually located in their will or living trust documents. Or, if they're using Eternal Me, authorized executors can login and view their instructions.

Ancestry.com provides the following options:

     
• Cancel - Cancel the account, membership, policy, service, or subscription.
• Request Access - Request access to the account or data in accordance with custodian's policy.

Digital Executor and Crypto Executor clients also have these options for Ancestry.com:

• 
  Manual Deletion
  
  Request removal or deletion of the asset, or closure of account.
• 
  Eternalize
  
  Transfer a complete digital copy to your beneficiaries or an Eternal Memorial.
• 
  Custom
  
  Attempt custom instructions for managing this item.

 

  Administer Ancestry.com

Now that you've verified your authorization and identified the deceased's wishes, do the work to carry out their instructions. You can click here to begin the process of administering Ancestry.com. Or, if using our Digital or Crypto Executor service, you're all done -- just wait until you hear back from us on the status.

 

  Document activities

It's important to carefully record each interaction, and be able to check on and report the status to heirs and estate executors. This is automatically handled for users of Eternal Me.

 

  Continue to other assets

After handling the notification, move onto other assets. Here's a selection of other digital assets to address.