Legacy Contact is a new Facebook feature that allows a person to choose a family member or friend who can manage their account when they pass away. Once someone lets Facebook know that a person has passed away, the social site will memorialize the account and enable the legacy contact to do the following:
Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message).
Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook.
Update the profile picture and cover photo.
If someone chooses, they may give their legacy contact permission to download an archive of the photos, posts and profile information they shared on Facebook. Other settings will remain the same as before the account was memorialized. The legacy contact will not be able to log in as the person who passed away or see that person’s private messages.
Alternatively, people can let Facebook know if they’d prefer to have their Facebook account permanently deleted after death.
Here are the step-by-step instructions for choosing a legacy contact.
See also: Facebook allows legacy contacts after you die: Will other services follow?
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