UK Helpline: 0345 123 2304 | tcf.org.uk Legacy contact It is possible that our child may have chosen a family member or friend to be their legacy contact. Provided this person is at least 18 years old, they will be allowed to manage our child’s Facebook account. Instagram does not allow the appointment of a legacy contact. Memorialising an account Of all the major social media platforms, only Facebook and Instagram currently offer to memorialise a deceased person’s account. (Correct as of February 2024. This may well change.) If a social media account is memorialised: • Once memorialised, a Facebook account has the word ‘remembering’ set before the username. Content the person shared (example: photos, posts) stays on Facebook and is visible on Facebook to the audience it was shared with. Memorialised profiles don’t appear in suggestions for ‘people you may know’, ads or birthday reminders. An additional function is also added on their profile that allows those who followed them to share tributes, such as a memory or photo. • Likewise, an Instagram account also has the word ‘remembering’ before their username. All existing posts and videos are visible to the original audience they were shared with, but no more posts can be uploaded. No one will be able to log in to the account, and our child’s profile won’t appear on the Explore page. Please note, at present if we wish to close our child’s Threads account, we will have to close their Instagram account too, as Threads is operated by Instagram. Although Instagram and Facebook can be memorialised, it may be better not to rush to formally “memorialise” our child’s accounts. There are some disadvantages in doing so, such as access becoming restricted. Some people prefer instead to keep their child’s page active, although there is a risk that Facebook will go ahead and memorialise the account if they become aware that it belongs to someone who is deceased. On the other hand, it can be distressing to continue to receive notifications, for example on our child’s birthday. Please see the end of this leaflet for links for closure and memorialising major social media sites.
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