Updated 25 October 2026
CM Law's Ultimate 50 List: Making a Will #47 - Can I include instructions for my social media accounts in my will?
Back to the 50 most asked questions about making a will
Yes. You can include instructions about social media accounts in your NSW will. You can identify who should deal with your digital affairs, record your wishes about preservation or deletion, and address digital property you own. However, a will does not automatically give anyone unrestricted access to an account.
For influencers and other creators, this planning can involve both personal memories and a business. A useful plan needs to address platform rules, original content, income, commercial commitments and the online reputation you leave behind.
Why the rise of creator careers matters
Influencing has developed into a career across beauty, fitness, gaming, livestreaming, reaction videos and other forms of online entertainment. A creator may earn money through advertising, subscriptions, sponsorships, affiliate links, coaching or merchandise. The account, content and income arrangements should not be treated as one interchangeable asset.
For people operating under creator names such as Androgenic, an estate inventory should connect public handles with the relevant legal identity and business records. A recognisable online name may matter commercially even where relatives are unfamiliar with the platforms.
Record who owns original videos, photographs, scripts, websites and branding. Check whether contracts and payments belong to you personally, a company or another business arrangement. A will should be coordinated with those arrangements rather than assuming everything connected with your profile belongs to your estate.
Looksmaxxing and the content creators leave behind
Looksmaxxing, appearance optimisation, fitness transformations and AI-generated personalities illustrate how quickly online interests change. Content created for a current trend may remain searchable long after the creator’s views, circumstances or audience have changed.
The eSafety Commissioner discusses the pressure created by appearance-focused social media, including looksmaxxing and extreme appearance-changing practices. Creators should consider accuracy, audience wellbeing and the effects of comparison when deciding what to publish. Popularity is not evidence that a practice is safe.
Estate planning adds another question: should existing material remain available, be archived privately or be reviewed before further promotion? Leave instructions about unfinished videos, scheduled posts and paid communities. Consider whether new content using your face or voice, including AI-generated material, would be acceptable. Existing licences, contracts and other people’s rights may limit what your executor can control.
What your will can and cannot achieve
Your will can deal with property you own, including relevant intellectual property and financial entitlements, and give your executor directions about digital matters. Access to an online service is a separate issue involving platform procedures, contractual rights and applicable law.
The NSW Law Reform Commission’s digital-records report explains the difference between having access credentials and having authority to use them. Inheriting a device does not necessarily provide a right to everything accessible through it. The report’s proposed statutory reforms should not be mistaken for existing access rights.
Discuss an executor with suitable digital skills, or a carefully drafted specialist appointment, with your solicitor. Calling someone a digital executor does not itself give them special powers over a platform. A platform legacy contact also has a different role from the executor administering your estate.
Facebook allows a legacy contact to manage limited aspects of a memorialised profile. That person cannot log into the account or read private messages.
Instagram provides processes concerning memorialisation and removal. Check its current memorialisation and removal procedures; do not assume its options are identical to Facebook’s.
Google’s Inactive Account Manager can notify chosen people and share selected data after a specified period of inactivity. It does not immediately transfer full account control when someone dies.
Apple Legacy Contact access requires an access key and death certificate. It excludes iCloud Keychain passwords, passkeys and payment information, as well as certain purchased content and subscriptions.
X permits a verified immediate family member or person authorised to act for the estate to request deactivation, but says it will not provide account access to anyone.
For TikTok and other services, check their current support procedures and record the account identifiers. Review platform settings regularly, particularly after switching account types or changing managers.
Protect a creator business before deleting accounts
Review channel permissions, business ownership and payment arrangements while you are alive. YouTube’s Brand Account guidance distinguishes owners from managers and warns that deleting the linked primary-owner account also deletes the channel. Authorised management roles are preferable to casually sharing a personal password.
Leave contact details for managers, sponsors, collaborators and advisers. Identify unpaid invoices, royalties, subscriptions and outstanding deliverables. Ask your solicitor to review what happens to sponsorship and licensing arrangements on death or incapacity.
Give the executor a practical sequence: preserve necessary records, identify obligations, obtain advice and then decide what can be closed or continued. Google’s deceased-user guidance warns that it cannot process a later request for account contents after an account has been closed.
Commercial content needs a responsible handover
Creators should consider their legal responsibilities while publishing, as well as what happens afterwards. The ACCC explains that social media advertising must be accurate and truthful. Commercial relationships and product claims need appropriate review; an archive should not be assumed suitable for indefinite promotion.
Health and wellness promotions require particular care. The TGA’s social media guidance explains that therapeutic-goods advertising rules apply to influencers and that prescription medicines cannot be advertised to the public.
Identify who can pause scheduled campaigns and seek advice before continuing endorsements. A manager or executor should not publish new material that misleadingly suggests the deceased personally approved a fresh recommendation. Preserve relevant contracts and records before making changes where obligations or disputes may be involved.
NSW Trustee and Guardian recommends keeping a separate list of accounts and digital records and telling your executor where it is stored. Include usernames, profile links, the purpose of each account and your preferred outcome. Identify the location of original content and essential business documents.
Keep passwords, recovery codes and security keys in an appropriately protected system, separate from the will. A will admitted to probate may become accessible to others. Explain how authorised people can locate the necessary information without placing credentials in an ordinary email or public document.
Secure access arrangements should support lawful platform procedures. They are not permission to impersonate the deceased or bypass restrictions.
A real overseas case about Facebook access
In a German Federal Court of Justice case decided on 12 July 2018, III ZR 183/17, a mother sought access to her deceased daughter’s Facebook account. Memorialisation had prevented access even with login details.
The court held that the user agreement passed to the parents as heirs under German succession law, including access to the account’s communications. This is an overseas decision, not a statement of NSW law.
The case illustrates why knowing a password, inheriting property and obtaining lawful account access are separate questions. Families should not assume that the same outcome applies automatically to an Australian account.
Keep your instructions current
Review your digital plan when you open a new platform account, begin earning income, sign with a manager or change your business structure. Keep legacy nominations, your will and the separate account register consistent.
Discuss whether personal messages should remain private, who may receive family photographs and whether a public announcement is wanted. Back up important material where you have the right to do so. Instructions to remove an account cannot guarantee that reposts, screenshots or copies elsewhere will disappear.
Planning for incapacity also needs attention. A will operates after death; business continuity and appropriate lifetime appointments require separate consideration.
Speak with CM Lawyers
Our wills and estates team can help coordinate your will, digital instructions and creator-business arrangements. Contact CM Lawyers on (02) 9557 9000 or email lawyers@cmlaw.com.au. Our office is at Level 3, Unit 3.07, 18–30 Faversham Street, Marrickville NSW 2204.
This article provides general information about NSW law and is not a substitute for legal advice about your circumstances.
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