AmberKey

Playbook

Apple — Legacy Contact and Digital Legacy

Platform claims verified July 6, 2026

What this mechanism is

Apple’s Legacy Contact is the official way to give someone access to your Apple Account data after you die. When you name a legacy contact, Apple generates an access key; after your death, that person presents the key plus your death certificate at Apple’s Digital Legacy site and receives access to your photos, notes, messages, iCloud Drive files, and more. Without a legacy contact, your family in the US generally needs a court order to get anything — so setting this up is the difference between a web form and a lawyer.

Set it up now

  1. On your iPhone or iPad: Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. On a Mac: Apple menu > System Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact. (There is no way to add a legacy contact from a web browser; you need an Apple device running iOS 15.2 / iPadOS 15.2 / macOS 12.1 or later, with two-factor authentication turned on.)
  2. Choose the person. They must be over 13, but they do not need an Apple device or an Apple Account. You can add more than one legacy contact.
  3. When prompted to share the access key, choose Print a Copy (you can save it as a PDF) in addition to, or instead of, sending it by iMessage. The printed/PDF copy is what you’ll escrow in AmberKey.
  4. Escrow the access key into AmberKey Layer 2: add a secret item of type “Apple Legacy Contact access key,” attach the PDF or transcribe the alphanumeric code, and link it to your Apple account card.
  5. On the account card (Layer 1), record: the Apple Account email, who your legacy contact(s) are, and the date you set this up.
  6. Tell your legacy contact they’ve been named and what the role means. If you sent the key by iMessage, make sure they actually tapped Accept — an unaccepted iMessage invitation can lapse.
  7. Set a reminder to re-check this whenever you change your Apple Account password or devices. If you ever remove and re-add a legacy contact, re-escrow the new key immediately (see Gotchas).

What AmberKey stores

  • Layer 1 (metadata): your Apple Account email, the names of your legacy contacts, setup date, and a pointer to this playbook. Safe to store in the executor packet.
  • Layer 2 (bearer secret): the access key (PDF or transcribed code). Also consider escrowing your device passcode here — a legacy contact does NOT get your iCloud Keychain passwords (see Gotchas), but someone with your unlocked iPhone and passcode can read Keychain passwords on the device itself.
  • Do not store your Apple Account password in Layer 1. If you escrow it at all, it belongs in Layer 2 — but the Legacy Contact mechanism plus device passcode covers most needs without it.

What your survivors do

  1. Find the Apple Legacy Contact access key in the AmberKey vault (Layer 2). It’s an alphanumeric code, possibly with a QR code.
  2. Get a copy of the death certificate (a scan or clear photo works for this — at least 300 dpi).
  3. Go to https://digital-legacy.apple.com/ and choose to request access. You can also do this on your own iPhone under Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact, if you were added there.
  4. Enter the access key and upload the death certificate. Apple reviews the request.
  5. Once approved, Apple gives you a special “legacy” Apple Account: you’ll enter the access key again, set a password, and turn on two-factor authentication. Sign in at iCloud.com with it, or use privacy.apple.com to download everything at once.
  6. What you’ll be able to reach: photos, notes, mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, messages, call history, iCloud Drive files, health data, voice memos, Safari bookmarks, and device backups. What you won’t: the deceased’s saved passwords (see the password-manager playbook in this packet), purchased movies/music/books, subscriptions, and payment cards.
  7. Approval also removes Activation Lock from their devices, so iPhones, iPads, and Macs can be erased and reused or passed on. (A locked device still has to be erased — the passcode can’t be bypassed without wiping it.)
  8. Download everything you might ever want within 3 years. Apple permanently deletes the account three years after the first legacy request is approved.
  9. If there is no access key in the vault (or it doesn’t work), Apple’s fallback process is at https://support.apple.com/en-us/102431 — in the US this requires a court order naming you as the legal representative. You can alternatively request deletion of the account with a death certificate. Talk to the estate’s attorney before going this route.

Required documents

  • With an access key: the death certificate (uploaded as PDF/JPEG/PNG, at least 300 dpi) — that’s it.
  • Without an access key (US): a court order that names the deceased and their Apple Account, names you, states you are the legal personal representative or heir, states your authorization constitutes “lawful consent,” and orders Apple to assist. Requirements: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102431

Expected timeline

  • Legacy Contact request with a valid key and death certificate: typically days (Apple reviews each request; no fixed SLA is published — check status at https://digital-legacy.apple.com/manage).
  • Court-order route without a key: weeks to months, plus legal costs.
  • Access window: 3 years from first approval, then the account is deleted permanently.

Gotchas

  • iCloud Keychain passwords are NOT included. Apple explicitly excludes Keychain (saved passwords, passkeys, auto-fill cards, Wi-Fi passwords) from Legacy Contact data. If Apple Keychain is your household’s password manager, the passwords die with the account unless you also escrow the device passcode in Layer 2 — a survivor with the physical device and its passcode can read Keychain on the device. See the password-manager playbook.
  • Removing a legacy contact kills their access key. Apple confirms: remove someone (or they remove themselves) and “their access key will no longer work.” Re-adding generates a new key. Any time you touch your Legacy Contact settings, re-escrow the current key to Layer 2 and destroy old printed copies — an escrowed stale key is worthless.
  • An unaccepted iMessage invitation can lapse. If you shared the key by iMessage and the person never opened it, they may be dropped automatically. Prefer the printed/PDF copy for escrow and confirm acceptance.
  • Any single legacy contact can delete everything. If you name several people, each can independently act on the data, including permanent deletion. Choose accordingly.
  • Apple cannot recover a lost access key. If the key is lost and you’re alive, just remove and re-add the contact (new key). If you’re not, it’s the court-order path.
  • Purchases don’t transfer. Movies, music, books, and subscriptions are licenses that end at death. Don’t let survivors expect a transferable media library.
  • Contact limit unclear. Apple’s current docs say “one or more” legacy contacts without stating a maximum; older third-party sources claim five. Check the current policy at https://support.apple.com/en-us/102631.