What Happens to Your AWS (Amazon Web Services) Account When You Die
Quick Facts
Charges
Continue indefinitely
Root access
Critical to document
Services
EC2, S3, RDS, Route 53
Step-by-Step Guide
Disable IAM users and roles
Revoke access for any unused IAM users. Rotate root account credentials if compromised.
Stop running instances
EC2 instances, RDS databases, and other compute services bill hourly. Stop or terminate anything not needed.
Check Route 53 domains
Domains registered through Route 53 will not auto-renew if the account is closed. Transfer to another registrar.
Contact AWS support
aws.amazon.com/contact-us for estate account closure. Root account credentials are critical.
Document Now Checklist
- AWS account ID and root email
- Root credential location
- List all running services and regions
- Monthly AWS bill amount
- IAM users with access
Last verified: June 2026. Platform policies may change. Verify current procedures directly with AWS (Amazon Web Services). This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Related Guides
GitHub
GitHub has no formal memorialization process. Private repos become permanently inaccessible without account credentials. Add a trusted contact as org owner for any organizations you manage.
Vercel
Add a trusted person to your Vercel team with Admin role. This ensures deployments continue.
Netlify
Add a trusted person to your Netlify team. Team → Members → Invite.
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