- Who should be notified?
- Google Inc.
Attention Gmail User Support
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
FAX 650-644-0358 - Who can notify them? What documents are needed?
- Whoever has the power of attorney for the deceased can notify Google. They will need that person’s full name and contact information, including a verifiable email address; the Gmail address of the deceased; the full header received by that person at a verifiable email address from the Gmail account in question; the entire contents of the message attached to the header; a copy of the death certificate; and a copy of the document giving that person power of attorney.
- If no password, can survivor receive one? How?
- It’s not definite but Google says Access may be provided. They will need 30 days to validate the submitted documents. The only other way to gain the information is via a court order or other appropriate legal process. Google will work with families and lawyers of the deceased to grant access once they’ve verified that the right people are taking over.
- Process for inactive accounts?
- When a Gmail account is shut down, the other Google accounts associated with it are turned off as well. A dormant account is one that hasn’t been logged into for six months. A user can still receive mail if the account is dormant, but he or she must log in to keep the account active. If no one logs in to Gmail within three months of the account being labeled dormant – or for nine consecutive months – Google may delete it.
