The Family Emergency Binder
How to Add a Legacy Contact on iPhone, Plus Google's Version (Free Printable)
General information only, not professional advice. In an emergency, call 911 and follow local officials. How we use sources
In this guide
A Legacy Contact is someone you choose who can request access to the data in your Apple Account after you die; to add one on iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. Google’s counterpart is Inactive Account Manager: once your account has gone unused for a period you set, it emails people you pick a message you wrote and, if you choose, shares your Google data with them. The free printable is a two-page record of who you picked on each and where the printed access key is filed, never the key itself.
Without a Legacy Contact, Apple’s deceased-account page says that in the US the route is a court order naming the person as the rightful inheritor, and only one person can request access that way. Adding a Legacy Contact now gives your family a different route: the access key you leave them plus a death certificate.
The picture above is an illustration, not a photo of a real document. The Apple and Google details below come from the Apple Support and Google Account Help pages linked in each section, which we read on October 21, 2026. The printable record and the yearly check near the end are our own suggestions. Nothing here is legal advice.
If your Legacy Contact disappeared from the list: Apple says a contact you recently added by iMessage might be removed automatically if they don’t open the message. Adding them again and choosing Print a Copy gives you a key that doesn’t depend on the iMessage.
What a Legacy Contact can and can’t get
Apple says a Legacy Contact might be able to access certain data you stored in iCloud and in your iCloud Backup. Purchased content, subscriptions, payment information and iCloud Keychain passwords are excluded. According to Apple’s list of what a Legacy Contact can access, the data can include:
- iCloud Photos
- Notes, Mail, Contacts, Calendars and Reminders
- Messages in iCloud and call history
- Files stored in iCloud Drive
- Health data and Voice Memos
- Safari bookmarks and Reading List
- Anything in an iCloud Backup, which can include photos and videos stored on the device and device settings
What they can’t get: purchased movies, music and books, subscriptions and in-app purchases, payment information for your Apple Account or Apple Pay, and anything in iCloud Keychain. Apple’s examples of Keychain data are user names and passwords entered in Safari, internet accounts used in Mail, Contacts, Calendar and Messages, saved credit card autofill and Wi-Fi passwords.
Apple’s list is built on iCloud and iCloud Backup. Photos that never made it into iCloud Photos or a backup aren’t on it, so if the pictures your family will want live on your iPhone, check that one of the two is turned on.
How to add a Legacy Contact on iPhone
You need an iPhone or iPad on iOS or iPadOS 15.2 or later, or a Mac on macOS Monterey 12.1 or later, signed in to your Apple Account with two-factor authentication on. The person you pick doesn’t need an Apple device or an Apple Account. They must be over 13 to request access later, and that age varies by country or region.
The steps, from Apple’s Legacy Contact setup page:
- Open Settings and tap your name.
- Tap Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact.
- Tap Add Legacy Contact. You might need Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Choose a member of your Family Sharing group, or tap Choose Someone Else to pick anyone from your Contacts.
- Choose how to share the access key: Send an iMessage or Print a Copy. The iMessage option only appears if you both have iMessage turned on.
- Follow the remaining onscreen steps. Apple emails you a confirmation when a Legacy Contact is added.
On a Mac, the path is Apple menu > System Settings > your name > Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact.
If you send the key by iMessage and your contact accepts, their device stores a copy in their own Apple Account settings. Apple says to confirm they actually received it, and that matters: a contact you recently added by iMessage might be removed automatically if they don’t open the message, and a removed contact’s key stops working. Once they’ve opened it, check that they still appear on your Legacy Contact screen. If they’ve dropped off, add them again and choose Print a Copy.
As for who to pick: you can add more than one Legacy Contact, but Apple says any one of them can make decisions about your data on their own, including permanently deleting it. Name only people you’d trust to make that call alone.
Where to keep the access key
Print a copy of the access key and file it with your will and other important papers, even if you also sent it by iMessage. Apple suggests this itself on its setup page.
The reason it matters: Apple can’t access or replace a lost access key. A key sent by iMessage is saved in your contact’s Apple Account settings, which only helps if they still use that account and know where to look; a paper copy filed with your will can be found by whoever handles your papers. A printout only works while that person is still listed as your Legacy Contact, so it backs up the iMessage check above rather than replacing it.
The printed key isn’t enough by itself. Your contact also needs your death certificate, and Apple reviews and verifies every request before approving it. That’s why Apple’s own setup page suggests keeping a copy with your will and other important papers.
You can see the key again any time: tap the contact’s name on the Legacy Contact screen, then View Access Key. If a nearby contact has an Apple device, they can scan its QR code. If you lose the printout while you’re alive, print a new one.
In your important documents binder, write down where the printed key is filed and who your Legacy Contact is. Don’t copy the key into the binder itself.
What your Legacy Contact does after a death
Your contact requests access with the access key and a copy of the death certificate. They can start on their own iPhone or iPad (Settings > their name > Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact > your name > Request Access) or on Apple’s Digital Legacy website, where they don’t need an Apple Account. In some places the document differs: Apple gives Japan’s family certificate as an example.
Apple’s request instructions ask for uploads in PDF, PNG, TIF, JPEG or GIF format, at least 300 dpi or 3300 x 2550 pixels, with each page flat, fully legible and all four edges visible. Apple emails the contact to confirm it received the request, and for security it also emails your Apple Account.
Once Apple approves the request:
- Apple emails your contact a special Legacy Contact Apple Account. They enter the access key again, confirm their contact information, create a password and set up two-factor authentication.
- Your original Apple Account no longer works.
- They can view your data at iCloud.com, download data about the account at privacy.apple.com, or sign in on an erased Apple device and restore your iCloud Backup.
- Activation Lock comes off devices that used your account, but each one must be erased and restored before it can be used with another Apple Account.
- They might need the access key again for end-to-end encrypted data such as Health data and Voice Memos. If you turned on Advanced Data Protection, they also have to sign in on an iPhone or iPad with the legacy account and tap a notification there to allow web access.
Access lasts three years from when Apple approves the first Legacy Contact request, and every Legacy Contact you named shares that window. After that, Apple permanently deletes the account. Tell your contact up front, so they know to download the photos within that window.
Catches to know before you rely on it
- An unopened iMessage can cost you your contact. Apple says a recently added contact may be removed automatically if they don’t open it.
- Every contact has full power. Any one of them can delete the account for good.
- The phone stays locked. Apple says it can’t remove a device passcode without erasing the device.
- Keychain passwords stay out of reach. Apple excludes iCloud Keychain, so the website and app logins saved there aren’t part of it.
How to set up Google Inactive Account Manager
Google Inactive Account Manager lets you pick people who get some of your Google data, or just a message from you, after your account has been inactive for a period you choose. It’s the one to set up if you keep photos, email or files in a Google Account, such as Gmail or Google Photos. Start at myaccount.google.com/inactive and sign in. According to Google’s Inactive Account Manager help page, you’ll decide:
- How long Google should wait before treating your account as inactive.
- Who to tell. Up to 10 trusted contacts, each reached by email.
- What each person gets. A notification only, or a notification plus your data. You can share all data or only some types, and give different people different data. Google notes that some information can’t be shared.
- What the message says. You write the subject line and the email they’ll receive.
Google’s page on deceased users’ accounts adds that the same tool is where you tell Google whether you want your account deleted.
Your contacts hear nothing while you’re setting it up. Google judges activity by your last sign-ins, your recent activity in My Activity, Gmail use (including the Gmail app on your phone) and Android check-ins. Once the wait runs out, each contact gets your email with a footer from Google explaining that you asked for it to be sent. If you shared data, the email lists it and includes a download link. For that download, Google asks for a phone number for the trusted contact and says it uses the number only to check that the right person is downloading.
If you skip this, Google’s inactive account policy says it reserves the right to delete a personal Google Account that has been inactive across Google for at least two years, with some exceptions. Google can also work with immediate family and representatives to close a deceased person’s account, and in some cases provide content, after a careful review. It won’t provide passwords or other login details. And once an account is closed, Google can’t hand over its contents later, so families who want the data should ask for that first.
Apple vs Google at a glance
| Apple Legacy Contact | Google Inactive Account Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| What starts it | Access key plus death certificate, reviewed by Apple | Inactivity for a period you choose |
| How many people | More than one; any one can act alone | Up to 10 |
| What they get | iCloud data and iCloud Backup | All Google data or the types you pick, per person; Google notes some information can’t be shared |
| Passwords included | No (iCloud Keychain excluded) | Not addressed on Google’s Inactive Account Manager page |
| Time limit | 3 years from first approval, then deleted | None stated by Google |
| What your contact needs | The access key and a death certificate | The email you wrote; for shared data, their phone number to verify the download |
Because Google acts on inactivity rather than proof of death, a long hospital stay, or a Google Account you stopped using years ago, could run out the clock. Pick a wait period with that in mind.
The gaps: your passwords and the phone itself
A Legacy Contact doesn’t get the passwords saved in your iCloud Keychain, and Apple says it can’t remove a device passcode without erasing the device. Google’s Inactive Account Manager page doesn’t say whether passwords are among the data you can share, and for requests about a deceased user’s account, Google says it can’t provide passwords or other login details. That leaves two gaps your family is likely to hit early: getting into the phone, and getting into accounts like the bank or the electric company that text sign-in codes to that phone.
Here’s how we’d close them without writing secrets in a binder anyone can flip through:
- If your password manager has an emergency access feature, set it up for the same person you named as your Legacy Contact.
- Decide how your phone passcode will be passed on, such as a sealed envelope with your will or a note inside your password manager, rather than a sticky note on the desk.
- Record locations, not secrets. Our emergency binder checklist has a line for where your password manager or its recovery instructions live, never the passwords themselves.
The free printable: a Legacy Contact setup record
The printable is two letter-size pages: a record you fill in after setup and update whenever a contact changes, and the setup steps with a yearly check. It records where things are and who holds them, never an access key, password, passcode or recovery code; the banner across the top of page 1 says so. The boxes are fillable, so you can type into them in a PDF reader, or print the pages and use a pen. Fill in the free printable with your phone in hand, right after you finish setup, so the dates are real.
Page 1: the setup record
The Apple block comes first. Write each Legacy Contact’s name and the date you added them. Each Legacy Contact gets their own access key: Apple’s steps have you tap the contact whose key you want to print, and removing one person stops only that person’s key from working. So each contact has their own “access key is filed at” line, asking where that person’s paper is, such as “folder with the will, home safe,” and their own “Printed on” date, because a printout only works while that person is still listed. Then note whether iCloud Photos and iCloud Backup are on, since what a contact can reach depends on them. Two tick boxes close the block: “I chose Print a Copy and filed the printout with my will and other important papers,” and a check that anyone you sent the key by iMessage opened it and is still listed. Step 5 on page 2 of the printable suggests printing a copy even if you send one, so if you did both, tick both.
The Google block has three blanks: the wait period you picked, the date you set it, and the gist of the message you wrote (not anything secret). Below them is a trusted-contact table with three rows. For each person, tick “Notification only” or “Notification and data,” and if it’s data, write which types. Google allows up to 10 people, so use the notes box if you named more than three.
The last block, “Passwords and the phone itself,” covers the two gaps above: your password manager’s name, who has emergency access to it, and where the sealed envelope or note with your phone passcode plan is kept. Write the place, not the passcode.
Page 2: the setup steps and the yearly check
The left column has Apple’s six setup steps and its requirements (iOS or iPadOS 15.2 or later, or macOS Monterey 12.1 or later, with two-factor authentication on). The right column has the four decisions Google asks you to make, starting at myaccount.google.com/inactive, and a “What neither one does” box. It lists what a Legacy Contact can’t get (iCloud Keychain passwords, passkeys, payment details, purchased media) and that it can’t get anyone past the phone’s passcode, then says to plan for passwords and the phone separately.
Below them is the yearly check, a four-row log. Once a year, open the Legacy Contact screen and confirm each person is still listed, then open Inactive Account Manager and check that each trusted contact’s email address, and the phone number you gave Google for anyone who gets data, are still the ones they use. Google uses that number to make sure only the trusted contact can download your data. Write the date, tick both boxes, and note anything you changed. Pick a date you won’t forget, like a birthday. Two reminders close the page. “If a contact disappears” says to add them again and choose Print a Copy, then update the date on page 1. “Tell your contact up front” covers Apple’s three-year access window, so the photos get downloaded before Apple deletes the account.
If you keep a family binder, the Family Emergency Binder has a Digital Life tab for the same job: where your password manager is and who has emergency access. The filled-in record fits right behind it.
Frequently asked questions
Will my Legacy Contact be able to see my data now?
No. Apple’s process starts only after your death, with the access key and your death certificate, and Apple reviews and verifies every request before approving it.
Can a Legacy Contact unlock my iPhone?
No. A Legacy Contact gets account data, not your passcode. Apple can’t remove a device passcode without erasing the device. After approval, Activation Lock comes off, so the phone can be erased and restored and used again.
Why was my Legacy Contact removed?
One cause Apple names is an iMessage invite that was never opened: a recently added contact might be removed automatically if they don’t open it. Apple adds that some features need the contact on iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2 or macOS Monterey 12.1 with iMessage turned on. If they don’t have a compatible device, Apple suggests adding them again and choosing Print a Copy.
Can I change or remove my Legacy Contact?
Yes, any time, from the same Legacy Contact screen: tap the name, then Remove Contact. The person isn’t notified, and their access key stops working. Apple emails you a confirmation.
Does Android have a Legacy Contact?
The closest Google feature is Inactive Account Manager. If your Android phone is signed in to a Google Account, that’s the setting to use, and it works on a timer instead of a death certificate. It covers data in that Google Account, not the phone itself or accounts with other companies, such as a Samsung account.
What if my parent died without a Legacy Contact?
For Apple in the US, the route is a court order that names you as the rightful inheritor, and only one person can request access. Even then, Apple says some end-to-end encrypted data can’t be decrypted. Apple also accepts requests to permanently delete a deceased person’s account. For a Google account, family members and representatives can ask Google to close the account or provide some content. Ask for the content before asking to close it.
What’s the difference between a Recovery Contact and a Legacy Contact?
A Recovery Contact helps you get back into your own account while you’re alive by giving you a recovery code. Apple says recovery contacts get no access to your account, and they need an Apple device with iMessage on. You can have up to five. A Legacy Contact gets access to your data after you die. They’re separate settings, and you can set up both.
