What to Do With a LinkedIn Account After Someone Dies

When someone dies, their LinkedIn account can usually be either memorialised or closed. Memorialising preserves the profile as a legacy page, while closing removes it from LinkedIn.

This decision is more personal than it first appears. LinkedIn may contain a career history, messages from colleagues, recommendations, business contacts, posts, photographs and evidence of professional relationships. Pause before choosing the fastest option.

Memorialise or close: the basic choice

LinkedIn describes two broad routes for a deceased member's account:

Option	What it means	When it may fit
Memorialise the account	The person's professional legacy remains visible in a protected form	Family, colleagues or former clients may value the profile
Close the account	The profile is removed from LinkedIn	The family wants privacy or the profile should no longer appear

Neither choice is universally right. A public professional profile may be comforting for some families and painful for others.

Questions to ask before you act

Before submitting a request, consider:

• Was LinkedIn important to the person professionally?
• Did they run a business, consultancy or freelance practice?
• Could clients, employees or colleagues still be trying to contact them there?
• Are there messages or contacts the executor may need?
• Would the family prefer the profile to remain as a career record?
• Would continued visibility cause distress or privacy concerns?

If there are business or estate issues, do not close the account until the right person has checked whether any information is needed.

What information may be needed

LinkedIn's public guidance and search snippets indicate that closing an account can require proof of death and legal authority to act. Examples of legal documents LinkedIn references include documents such as Letters of Administration, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Representation issued by a court.

In the UK, the equivalent practical documents may include a death certificate and, where required, a grant of probate or letters of administration. LinkedIn is a global platform, so the wording on its forms may not match UK terminology exactly. If in doubt, provide the closest UK document and explain your role clearly.

Useful details to gather before starting:

• the LinkedIn profile URL
• the person's full name
• their email address, if known
• date of death
• your relationship to them
• proof of death, such as a death certificate or obituary where accepted
• proof that you are authorised to act, if requesting closure

Do not upload more personal information than the form asks for. Use official routes and avoid sending documents through informal messages.

If you only want the profile memorialised

Memorialisation may be appropriate where the profile is part of the person's public professional identity. It can prevent the account from appearing as if the person is still actively available, while allowing their career history to remain visible.

This can matter if they were:

• a founder or business owner
• a consultant, contractor or freelancer
• a charity trustee or community leader
• a professional with publications, recommendations or awards
• someone whose colleagues may search for news after hearing of the death

If family members disagree, slow down. A LinkedIn profile is public, and grief can make privacy decisions feel urgent. Unless there is a clear risk, it is usually better to decide once immediate emotions have settled.

If you want the account closed

Closure is more final. It may be the right choice if the family wants privacy, if the person had a small or inactive profile, or if continued visibility causes distress.

Before requesting closure, check whether there are practical reasons to wait:

• the executor may need to identify business contacts
• colleagues may need a way to confirm the death respectfully
• there may be business leads, invoices or client context in messages
• a surviving business partner may need to post an update elsewhere first
• the profile may link to a company page or professional website

If any of those apply, take screenshots or export relevant information where lawful and appropriate before closure. Do not impersonate the person or send messages as if they were alive.

What about LinkedIn Premium or paid products?

If the person had LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter or another paid LinkedIn product, there may be a subscription charge. Check bank statements, card statements and app-store subscriptions.

If a payment is active, record:

• the payment amount
• payment route
• billing date
• whether cancellation is through LinkedIn, Apple, Google or a card provider
• the date you requested closure or cancellation

Because this involves money, the executor or administrator should keep a note for the estate records. If charges continue after death and you cannot access the account, contact LinkedIn through its help process and speak to the payment provider if necessary.

Be careful with company pages

A personal LinkedIn account can be connected to company pages, advertising accounts, recruiter tools or business assets. If the deceased person was the only admin of a company page, closing their personal profile too quickly may make it harder to manage that page.

Before closure, check whether:

• the person owned or administered a company page
• other admins exist
• staff need access transferred
• paid ads or recruiter tools are running
• the company has its own continuity plan

For a sole trader or small business, this can overlap with estate administration. Keep notes and get advice if business value or client obligations are involved.

How to tell colleagues separately

LinkedIn account action is not the same as telling colleagues. If the person had close professional relationships, consider whether someone should send a separate message from their own account or email address.

A short message is enough:

I am sorry to let you know that [name] died on [date]. The family is grateful for the messages and support. Professional enquiries can be sent to [contact] for now.

Do not feel obliged to manage every professional relationship immediately. One clear point of contact is better than trying to answer everyone while grieving.

Where GetPassage can help

GetPassage can help you keep digital accounts in order: LinkedIn, email, cloud storage, phones, subscriptions and social media. You can record whether the decision is to memorialise, close, transfer access or leave until later, so the task does not disappear into a pile of passwords and paperwork.

LinkedIn after death checklist

• Find the correct LinkedIn profile URL.
• Decide whether memorialisation or closure is more appropriate.
• Check for business, company page or paid subscription issues.
• Gather proof of death and authority documents if needed.
• Use LinkedIn's official deceased-member help route.
• Keep copies of what you submit.
• Record any subscription cancellation or payment issue.
• Tell key colleagues separately if needed.

A LinkedIn profile can be a professional memorial, a business asset, a privacy concern or all three. The right approach is the one that protects the family, respects the person who died, and avoids closing useful information too soon.