How to manage a LinkedIn profile when someone dies

LinkedIn is often where someone’s professional life is most visibly documented – their career history, the colleagues they worked with, the achievements they were proud of. After a death, a LinkedIn profile sits open and unattended: still appearing in search results, still receiving connection requests, still displaying work history as if nothing has happened.

For many families, LinkedIn comes up later than other accounts. There are no automatic payments tied to it in the obvious sense, and it feels less urgent than a bank or a utility. But it matters, particularly if the deceased had an active professional presence, was in the middle of a job search, or held a Premium subscription. This guide covers all of it: what LinkedIn offers, who can request what, the documents involved, and the practical details that do not appear on LinkedIn’s main help pages.

Quick reference:

• Request form (memorialisation or closure): linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rdmlp
• Phone support: None – all requests are handled online only
• Documents needed: Death certificate; legal authority document (for closure only)
• Process time: Memorialisation within 48 hours; closure up to 30 days

What LinkedIn offers: memorialisation or removal

LinkedIn’s approach differs from most other social platforms. It provides two formal options for a deceased person’s account, and which one is available to you depends on whether you hold any legal authority over the estate.

Memorialisation converts the profile into a tribute page. The words “In remembrance” appear under the person’s name. The account is locked against any login – no one can sign in, not family members, not LinkedIn staff. Posts, work history, connections, and endorsements remain visible on the profile.

Account closure removes the profile entirely. All data is deleted and the process is irreversible. This option is restricted to people who hold formal legal authority over the deceased’s estate – typically an executor or administrator who has obtained probate or Letters of Administration.

For most families, memorialisation is the accessible starting point. Closure becomes relevant once probate has been obtained, or if the family has a clear reason to remove the profile and the legal authority to do so.

(Source: Memorialize or close the account of a deceased member – LinkedIn Help, last verified May 2026.)

How to memorialise a LinkedIn profile

Memorialisation is LinkedIn’s way of acknowledging that a member has died while preserving their professional legacy on the platform. Anyone can submit this request – you do not need to be a family member or hold any legal authority.

Once an account is memorialised:

• The profile displays “In remembrance” as a visible badge beneath the person’s name
• No one can log in to the account
• Existing posts, connections, endorsements, recommendations, and work history remain visible
• The account cannot be edited or updated by anyone, including LinkedIn staff
• LinkedIn will stop sending birthday reminders and “People You May Know” notifications featuring the deceased to their connections

Memorialisation is permanent and cannot be reversed once applied.

Step by step

1. Go to LinkedIn’s deceased member contact form at linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rdmlp
2. Select the option to report a deceased member
3. Provide the following:
   • The deceased member’s full name
   • Their LinkedIn profile URL
   • Your relationship to the deceased
   • Their email address (if known)
   • Date of passing
   • A link to an obituary or published notice (if available)
4. Upload a copy of the death certificate (or provide the obituary link if you do not yet have the certificate)
5. Submit the request

LinkedIn states that memorialisation changes are typically applied within 48 hours of a request being verified.

(Source: Memorialize or close the account of a deceased member – LinkedIn Help, last verified May 2026.)

How to remove/delete a LinkedIn profile

Account closure permanently removes the LinkedIn profile. All data is deleted and cannot be recovered. LinkedIn states this process takes up to 30 days from confirmation.

This option is only available to authorised representatives of the deceased’s estate.

Who qualifies

You must hold one of the following documents:

• Letters of Administration – issued by the probate registry in England, Wales, or Scotland when someone dies without a will (intestate), or in some cases where there is a will
• Grant of probate – issued in England and Wales after a will has been verified; this falls under the Letters of Administration/Representation category for LinkedIn’s purposes
• Letters of Representation – accepted in certain other jurisdictions
• Letters Testamentary – the US equivalent; accepted by LinkedIn for US-based estates
• A court order appointing you as an authorised representative for the estate

What LinkedIn will not accept

LinkedIn explicitly states that the following are not sufficient to authorise account closure:

• Wills and trusts (even naming you as executor)
• Power of attorney documents
• Identity documents (passports, driving licences, birth certificates)
• Informal written permissions or email authorisations
• Screenshots or social media posts as proof

This is an important practical point. Being named executor in a will is not sufficient – you need the formal grant issued by the probate registry. If probate has not yet been obtained, memorialisation is the available route while that process completes.

Step by step

1. Go to linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rdmlp
2. Indicate you are an authorised representative requesting account closure
3. Provide the deceased’s full name, LinkedIn profile URL, email address, and date of passing
4. Upload the death certificate
5. Upload a copy of your qualifying legal document (Grant of probate, Letters of Administration, or equivalent)
6. Submit the request

LinkedIn reviews the documentation and, once satisfied, proceeds with closure. The profile and all data are permanently deleted.

(Source: Memorialize or close the account of a deceased member – LinkedIn Help, last verified May 2026.)

LinkedIn Premium: cancelling a subscription after death

LinkedIn Premium does not cancel automatically when someone dies, and billing continues until it is explicitly stopped. This is one of the most common practical issues families encounter.

What happens when you memorialise or close the account

If the account is memorialised, LinkedIn states that most LinkedIn products – including Premium – are cancelled as part of the memorialisation process. However, there is a significant exception: Premium subscriptions billed through Apple are not cancelled by LinkedIn. Apple manages those billing relationships independently.

If the account is closed, subscriptions should also cease. But again, Apple-billed subscriptions require separate action.

How to identify where the subscription was billed

If you can access the deceased’s email inbox, look for billing receipts from LinkedIn or from Apple. Receipts from “Apple” or “iTunes” indicate the subscription was purchased through the App Store on an iPhone or iPad. Receipts from LinkedIn directly indicate it was billed through LinkedIn’s own payment system.

Cancelling a Premium subscription billed directly through LinkedIn

If the subscription is billed directly by LinkedIn and you cannot wait for the memorialisation process, contact LinkedIn through the same support form at linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rdmlp and explain the situation. LinkedIn support can cancel billing manually.

Cancelling a Premium subscription billed through Apple

If the subscription was purchased via the App Store:

1. Open the Settings app on an iPhone or iPad signed in to the deceased’s Apple ID
2. Tap the Apple ID name at the top → Subscriptions
3. Find LinkedIn Premium and tap Cancel Subscription

If you cannot access the device or Apple ID, contact Apple Support directly. Apple has a bereavement process and can cancel subscriptions with appropriate documentation (including a death certificate).

Refunds

LinkedIn’s standard refund policy offers a 7-day window for refunds if no Premium features were used. In a bereavement situation, LinkedIn support may be able to authorise an exception outside this window – it is worth requesting when you contact them. Note that for Apple-billed subscriptions, refunds are handled by Apple, not LinkedIn.

If you cannot access any device or account and billing is continuing, the fastest route is to contact the bank or card provider linked to the payments. A bank will freeze outgoing payments on notification of death. See our what to do after a death hub for guidance on notifying banks.

What happens to job applications

If the deceased had active job applications through LinkedIn at the time of death, those applications do not withdraw automatically when the account is memorialised or closed.

LinkedIn’s job application system submits applications to employers directly. Once submitted, an application exists within the recruiter’s system – LinkedIn’s action on the account does not retroactively cancel applications that have already been sent.

What this means in practice

• Active applications already submitted remain in the employer’s system and will continue to be visible to recruiters until the application expires or is closed by the employer
• Saved job searches and Easy Apply alerts will stop when the account is locked or closed
• InMail messages from recruiters may continue to arrive in the inbox, but the account will be inaccessible once memorialised

There is no formal process for notifying employers of a candidate’s death through LinkedIn. If the family is aware of specific active applications – for example, a role where an interview was scheduled – the appropriate step is to contact those employers directly by phone or email to inform them of the death. This avoids awkward follow-up communications arriving after a bereavement notice has gone out.

LinkedIn does not provide family members with access to the deceased’s application history or message inbox, so there is no reliable way to identify all active applications through LinkedIn itself.

Downloading the profile before deletion

LinkedIn does not grant third-party access to a deceased member’s account data. This is a firm policy, not a technical limitation. No family member, executor, or legal representative can request a data download – regardless of the documentation they hold.

The narrow window before memorialisation

If you have access to the deceased’s device while it is still logged in to LinkedIn, there is a window to use LinkedIn’s own data export feature before submitting any bereavement request:

1. Open LinkedIn on the logged-in device
2. Go to Settings & Privacy → Data Privacy → Get a copy of your data
3. Select what to include – connections, messages, work history, posts
4. Request the export (LinkedIn emails a download link within 24 hours)
5. Download the archive before submitting the memorialisation or closure request

Once the account is memorialised, this window closes permanently. Once closed, the data is deleted entirely.

The data export includes connections, messages, profile information, activity history, and saved jobs. It does not include the ability to re-download documents or files shared via LinkedIn Messaging.

Things to watch out for

Company page admin access is lost immediately

If the deceased was the sole admin of a LinkedIn company page – a small business owner, a sole trader, a community organisation – that page will lose its admin when the personal account is memorialised or closed. With no admin, the page cannot be managed or deleted.

Before submitting any bereavement request: if there is an active company page that still needs to be maintained, another person with a LinkedIn account should be added as a page admin while access to the personal account is still available. If the page is no longer needed, delete it before memorialising the personal account. Once the account is locked, this cannot be resolved through LinkedIn.

LinkedIn does not delete inactive accounts

Unlike some platforms, LinkedIn does not have a policy of automatically deleting accounts that have been inactive for a long period. An unmanaged account will remain online indefinitely unless a bereavement request is submitted. This means a deceased person’s profile can remain visible and searchable for years without action from the family.

The probate requirement creates a delay for families who want closure

Families who want to delete the profile entirely often do not have Letters of Administration at the point where they first think about the LinkedIn account. Probate takes time – typically several months in the UK for straightforward estates. Memorialisation is the practical interim step: it protects the account, prevents login, and marks it clearly as belonging to someone who has died, while the family waits for the legal process to conclude.

Google may still surface the profile

Memorialising the LinkedIn profile does not immediately remove it from Google’s search results. The profile remains indexable by search engines. If the family is concerned about the profile appearing in search results, they should be aware this may continue for some time even after memorialisation is applied.

LinkedIn Learning certificates

If the deceased completed any LinkedIn Learning courses, those certificates are stored in the account. Once the account is memorialised or closed, access to those certificates is lost. If the certificates are needed – for example, as evidence of professional qualifications for an estate purpose – they should be downloaded or screenshot from the account before any bereavement request is submitted.

Summary

LinkedIn’s bereavement process has two distinct tiers. Memorialisation – which marks the profile “In remembrance”, locks the account, and preserves all content – is available to anyone and typically processes within 48 hours. Account closure, which permanently deletes all data, requires formal legal authority: a grant of probate, Letters of Administration, or a court-issued equivalent. Wills and power of attorney documents are not accepted.

The two most important practical points: LinkedIn Premium does not stop automatically if it is billed through Apple, and no family member can access or download a deceased person’s account data through LinkedIn once the account is memorialised.

Key links:

• Memorialisation or closure request form: linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rdmlp
• LinkedIn help – deceased member: linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1336663

For a full list of accounts to address after a bereavement, see our what to do after a death hub. For handling other social media accounts, our guides to notifying Facebook when someone dies and notifying Instagram when someone dies cover platforms that also offer memorialisation. For X (Twitter) – which, like LinkedIn, has no Legacy Contact system – see our guide to notifying X (Twitter) when someone dies. For the legal framework around estate administration, which affects whether you qualify for LinkedIn’s account closure option, see our guide to probate.