The Facebook Special Request form for deceased accounts lets immediate family members, executors, and legal representatives memorialize or permanently delete the profile of someone who has died or become medically incapacitated. You’ll find it at facebook.com/help/contact/228813257197480, and you don’t need to log in to the deceased person’s account to use it. Before you open the form, gather proof of death and, if you want the account removed rather than memorialized, check whether a legacy contact was already assigned — that one detail changes who is allowed to ask for what.
Who Can Submit the Form
Facebook applies different rules depending on the action. Anyone with documentation confirming the person has died can report a profile for memorialization. Removal is stricter: Facebook requires verification that you are an immediate family member or the executor of the estate. And if the account holder named a legacy contact before they died, that person is the only one who can request deletion. Others can still get the profile memorialized, but it will stay memorialized unless the legacy contact chooses to remove it.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account
This catches families off guard. If your loved one designated a friend or partner as their legacy contact and you are a parent or sibling, you can get the account memorialized but you cannot have it deleted. Find out whether a legacy contact exists before you spend time preparing a removal request.
Documents to Gather First
What Facebook asks for depends on the action you pick. For memorialization, the bar is lower: a scan or photo of an obituary, death certificate, memorial card, or similar documentation is enough. For account removal, Facebook specifically requires a death certificate.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account Facebook’s Help Center lists other accepted forms of proof, but a certified death certificate is the cleanest option and worth obtaining before you begin.
For a medically incapacitated person, you need two things: proof of guardianship, such as a power of attorney or court order, and an official note from a doctor or medical facility describing the person’s condition.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account
One detail trips up a lot of requests: the name and information on your documentation must match what appears on your loved one’s Facebook account.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account If the profile uses a nickname, maiden name, or alternate spelling, a mismatch can stall the review. Scan or photograph documents clearly. Blurry uploads are a common reason requests come back with a demand for more information.
Filling Out the Form
The form collects identifying information about both you and the account holder. You’ll enter your full name, a contact email where Facebook can send confirmations and follow-ups, the full name on the person’s Facebook profile exactly as it appears there, a link to that profile, and the email address that may have been used to create the account. If you don’t know the account email, the form still accepts the request, but providing it helps Facebook find the right profile. To copy the profile URL, visit the page in a browser and grab the address bar.
After the identifying fields, you choose the type of help you need. The main options are memorializing the account, removing it because the owner has died, and removing it because the owner is medically incapacitated. A fourth option, “I have a special request,” opens additional choices covering legacy settings, hacked or spam-posting accounts of deceased users, accounts impersonating a deceased person, and situations involving a deceased page administrator.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account
Facebook also asks for the approximate date the person passed away and gives you a free-text field for additional details. Use that field to explain anything unusual: a name change, a profile under a maiden name, or a reason you cannot provide the preferred documentation. Attach your scanned documents and submit.
Memorialize or Remove the Account
The choice between memorialization and removal is the most consequential thing on the form, and it isn’t easily reversed.
Memorialization keeps the profile visible as a place for friends and family to share memories. The word “Remembering” appears next to the person’s name, and the account stops appearing in People You May Know, ads, and birthday reminders.2Facebook. Memorialization of a Deceased Person’s Account Photos, posts, and other content the person shared remain visible to their original audience. No one can log in to a memorialized account.
Permanent removal deletes the profile and everything tied to it. Once processed, the photos, posts, messages, and friend connections are gone.2Facebook. Memorialization of a Deceased Person’s Account If several family members have photos or memories tied to the account, make sure everyone has downloaded what they want before you request deletion. There is no recovery afterward.
One boundary worth knowing: if a legacy contact was assigned, they gain limited management powers over the memorialized profile — pinning a post, responding to friend requests, updating photos, and, if the account holder permitted it, downloading an archive of certain content. A legacy contact cannot read private messages or log in.3Facebook. What Happens to Facebook after Your Death?
Requests for a Medically Incapacitated User
The form isn’t limited to deceased individuals. If a loved one is medically incapacitated and can no longer manage their account, you can request removal through the same form. Facebook requires proof of legal guardianship — a power of attorney or court order — plus an official medical note describing the person’s condition.1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account
A standard medical power of attorney may not automatically cover digital accounts. The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, adopted in most U.S. jurisdictions, gives fiduciaries a path to digital assets, but only when the estate planning documents explicitly grant that authority. If a power of attorney doesn’t specifically mention digital assets or online accounts, a platform may push back. Including digital-asset language in new or updated documents avoids that fight.
Why Facebook Will Not Give You the Password
No matter your relationship to the account holder or the legal documents you bring, Facebook will not share login credentials. The form states it plainly: “To protect the privacy of people on Facebook, we cannot provide anyone with login information for accounts.”1Facebook. Special Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person’s Account
The rule is rooted in the federal Stored Communications Act, which bars electronic communication service providers from disclosing the contents of stored communications to anyone other than the intended recipient.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2702 – Voluntary Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records Even a will that expressly grants your executor rights to your social media does not force a platform to hand over a password. In practice you can memorialize the account, remove it, or, through a legacy contact, download certain content. You will not be given the ability to log in and browse as the deceased person could.
After You Submit
Facebook sends an automated confirmation to the email address you entered. Save that message; it’s your receipt if you need to follow up. Facebook does not publish a guaranteed turnaround, and review times vary with the complexity of the request and the clarity of the documentation.
If your documents are unclear or the information doesn’t match the account, Facebook’s review team will email you asking for corrections or additional proof. Respond quickly to keep the request moving. Once approved, you’ll get a notification confirming the account has been memorialized or removed. For memorialization, the “Remembering” label appears on the profile right away. For removal, the profile and its content disappear from Facebook.