Access After a Death
For anyone who needs access to the Total Family account of someone who has died.
If your mother, father, spouse, or another family member has died, and you need access to what they kept in Total Family, this page explains how and what you will need.
We are sorry you are here.
Who This Page Is For
Anyone trying to reach the account of someone who has passed away: a named Legacy Contact, or a relative handling a deceased family member's affairs.
You do not need a Total Family account of your own, and you do not need to have heard of us before today.
What Total Family Is, Briefly
Total Family is where a family writes down what matters to them: their values, letters to the people they love, milestones, and family sayings. If someone named you, they chose in advance what you would be able to see.
You do not need to have used it before. Everything below works from a standing start.
What You Will Need
Two things, and both are required.
1. An access key. A code the person sent you while they were alive, usually by email, shown as a code and a QR code. People are encouraged to store it somewhere their family already looks, such as alongside a will or other important papers, so it is worth checking there before assuming it is lost.
2. A death certificate. An image or a PDF, up to 10 MB. A photograph of the certificate is fine.
The key on its own does nothing without the certificate. That is deliberate: it is what stops anyone getting in early.
How to Submit the Request
- Open the access link that came with your key.
- Enter the access key.
- Upload the death certificate.
- Select Submit Request.
What Happens Next
We review both documents. This takes up to 48 hours. If anything further is needed, we contact you directly.
You do not need to chase it during that time, and there is nothing else to do while you wait.
What You Will Be Able to See
Only what they chose for you.
When someone names a Legacy Contact they set permissions individually, and every one of them starts switched off. They may have granted any of: Personal Vision, Family Vision, Milestones, Legacy Vault, and Quotes.
So the account you open may hold everything, or one letter. That was their decision, made deliberately, and it is not something we can widen afterwards.
Many people also leave a written note for the person they named. If there is one, you will see it.
If You Do Not Have a Key
Look first in the places above: an old email, or with their will and important papers. Some people also pass the key on verbally or write it somewhere the family already knows to look.
If it is genuinely not there, write to us and tell us who you are, who has died, and your relationship to them. We cannot promise access where none was arranged, because the permissions were theirs to set and we do not override them. But tell us and we will look.
If You Were Never Named
If you believe you should have been named as a Legacy Contact and were not, we cannot grant access on that basis. The account belongs to the person who created it, and the permissions they set stand.
If you are handling their estate and need to reach us formally, use the contact page on our website.
If You Are Planning Ahead
If you are here because you want to set this up for your own family rather than because someone has died, Legacy Contact covers naming someone, choosing what they can see, and sharing the key.