Immediately following the passing of a loved one, removing their Facebook page is last thing on the minds of their family members. But after the passage of some time, the family members usually want their loved one’s Facebook page taken down. Sometimes it is because it is painful to see the page, other times people simply want to protect the information on the page, and most often the family feels enough time has passed and the page is no longer necessary. As an estate planning attorney, people often ask me how to take down a Facebook page of a deceased loved one.

There are a couple of options regarding pages of deceased Facebook users. First, you can request to have the page turned into a memorial page. Under this scenario, Facebook will remove sensitive information and will only allow confirmed friends to access the Facebook profile. The profile will also no longer appear in the Suggestions section of the Home page. Friends and family will be allowed to leave posts in remembrance. If you want to report a profile to be memorialized, please click here.

The second option is the complete removal of the Facebook page. Facebook with process certain special requests for verified immediate family members, including requests to remove a loved one’s account. This request will completely remove the profile and all associated content from Facebook, so no one can view it. Along with information about the account, the documentation that I generally send to Facebook on behalf of clients includes: a) a death certificate and b) Letters of Personal Representative.

In my experience, this request is much more common than the memorial page option. If you would like to request that Facebook remove your loved one’s account, click here.

At Boyum Law, I have a laundry list of social media sites that I give to clients in order to track their passwords to those accounts. I recommend putting that list with their other important documents. It is also important to remember that people often have multiple account on the same social media site. For instance, I have a personal Facebook page and Boyum Law Facebook page. If that information is readily available to the family, it eliminates the need to request these changes through Facebook or any of the other social media sites and generally makes the process much easier.