The next edition of that book will undoubtedly discuss Apple\u2019s new Legacy Contact feature, introduced in iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS 12.1 Monterey. It enables you to specify one or more people as a Legacy Contact. Should you die unexpectedly, those people can use an access key along with your death certificate to access much of your Apple content and remove Activation Lock from your devices. (If you have time to prepare for your passing, it\u2019s easier to share all your passwords and passcodes explicitly.) The person or people you set as Legacy Contacts don\u2019t have to be running Apple\u2019s latest operating systems or even be Apple users, though it\u2019s easier if they are. (Like so many other things in life.)<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t put off specifying someone as a Legacy Contact, whether it\u2019s a family member or close friend. The entire point of the \u201chit by a bus\u201d scenario is that it\u2019s both unexpected and could happen at any time. (It\u2019s possible to get access without being a Legacy Contact<\/a>, but it requires a court order and will undoubtedly be significantly more work.)<\/p>\n Apple provides good directions for the Legacy Contact feature, and while we\u2019ll summarize the steps below, read Apple\u2019s documentation to get the word from the horse\u2019s mouth. Apple\u2019s support pages include:<\/p>\n Apple has the full list at the link above, but in short, a Legacy Contact can access anything stored in iCloud, including photos, email, contacts, calendars, messages, files, and more, as well as the contents of iCloud Backup. Not included are licensed media (music, movies, and books), in-app purchases (upgrades, subscriptions, and game currency), payment information (Apple ID payment info or Apple Pay cards), and anything stored in the account holder\u2019s keychain (usernames and passwords, credit card details, and more). A Legacy Contact cannot access the deceased\u2019s devices\u2014Apple is incapable of sharing passcodes. However, Apple can remove Activation Lock so those devices can be erased and reused.<\/p>\n Adding someone as a Legacy Contact is easy. You must be running iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, or macOS 12.1 Monterey to initiate the process, and two-factor authentication must be turned on for your Apple ID<\/a> (this is a very good idea anyway).<\/p>\n On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Your Name<\/i> > Password & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. On a Mac, use System Preferences > Apple ID > Password & Security > Legacy Contact > Manage. You can choose a group member if you\u2019re in a Family Sharing group or pick someone from your contacts list.<\/p>\n As part of the process of picking someone, Apple allows you to share the access key via Messages if they\u2019re running iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, or macOS 12.1 Monterey. If they accept, a copy of the access key will automatically be stored in their Apple ID settings. If they\u2019re not running a necessary operating system or don\u2019t use an Apple device, you can instead print out an access key QR code and give that to them. You might also want to print a copy to store with your will and other important documents.<\/p>\n It may often be appropriate to act as a Legacy Contact for the people you\u2019re asking to be your Legacy Contacts, particularly with spouses or adult children.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s assume the worst and pretend \u200b\u200bthat someone who has added you as a Legacy Contact has passed away. To request access to their Apple ID, you need the access key that the person shared with you and a copy of their death certificate. You can find the access key on an iPhone or iPad in Settings > Your Name<\/i> > Password & Security > Legacy Contact > Contact\u2019s Name<\/i>, and on the Mac in System Preferences > Apple ID > Password & Security, where you click Manage next to Legacy Contact settings and then Details next to the person\u2019s name. It\u2019s also possible that the person shared the access key as a document stored with their estate planning documents.<\/p>\n The screens that provide the access key also have a Request Access link. Tap or click that and follow the instructions to upload the death certificate. If you don\u2019t have an appropriate Apple device, you can also do this on the Web at Apple\u2019s Digital Legacy \u2013 Request Access<\/a> page.<\/p>\n Apple evaluates all access requests to make sure they\u2019re legitimate, and once approved, sends you an email with more details and instructions. That email will also include a special Legacy Contact Apple ID that replaces the deceased\u2019s previous Apple ID. You can use that Apple ID to log in to iCloud.com<\/a> or download data at privacy.apple.com<\/a>, sign in to an Apple device, or restore an iCloud backup to another Apple device. Having an access request approved also removes Activation Lock from the deceased\u2019s Apple devices so you can restore them to factory settings<\/a> and set them up again, either fresh or with the Legacy Contact\u2019s Apple ID\u2019s data.<\/p>\n The main limitation is that the Legacy Contact Apple ID is good only for 3 years, after which the legacy account is permanently deleted. So be sure to download everything important fairly quickly\u2014don\u2019t just keep using the Legacy Contact Apple ID or assume that you\u2019ll be able to go back to it at any time.<\/p>\n We sincerely hope that you never have to act as Legacy Contact for a loved one, but we can say from experience that this new feature can only help make an already stressful time more manageable.<\/p>\n (Featured image by iStock.com\/Olga Serba)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you heard the expression \u201chit by a bus\u201d? It\u2019s a somewhat macabre attempt to inject a little levity into planning for the unthinkable event of dying without warning. No one expects to be hit by a bus, but people do die unexpectedly in all sorts of ways. That\u2019s terrible, of course, but it\u2019s also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,69,106,112,185,104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-apple","category-apple-consulting-ct","category-apple-support-ct","category-mac-support-ct","category-mactech","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8245,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236\/revisions\/8245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
What Data Can a Legacy Contact Access?<\/h3>\n
How Do You Add a Legacy Contact?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/macworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/plan-for-the-future-by-establishing-a-legacy-contact-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/macworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/plan-for-the-future-by-establishing-a-legacy-contact-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow Does a Legacy Contact Request Account Access?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/macworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/plan-for-the-future-by-establishing-a-legacy-contact-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n