Google Gmail - Requesting Access To Deceased Persons Email

Valo · 8 Jul 2013 at 17:52

I'm getting extremely frustrated with Google. My Sister died suddenly in October last year.

I'm taking on the task of closing/gaining access to her various online accounts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in order to secure them and prevent unauthorised access.

The majority of companies I've dealt with have been easy to get her accounts shut down. However, Google are causing me real problems. I have attempted a password reset on her Gmail account but this was unsuccessful as I had insufficient details. I then followed Google's own guidelines here - https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14300?hl=en to attempt to gain access to my sisters Gmail account and faxed the relevant documents to them.

Google responded to my application but they now require a Court Order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States that meets the following criteria:

The Court Order must be addressed to Google Inc.

The Court Order must be signed by a judge with jurisdiction over the deceased user’s estate.

The Court Order must direct Google to provide the deceased user’s Gmail account content to the person requesting data.

The Court Order must specify the following:
A statement of jurisdiction over the deceased user’s estate
The full name of the deceased user
The deceased user’s Gmail account
The full name of the person requesting the contents of the deceased user’s Gmail account

Which is all but impossible for me to organise considering that I'm a UK citizen and my sister's estate is being dealt with under English law, not to mention the expense involved.
What is even more annoying is the fact that Google have now introduced the new Inactive Account Manager service: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/plan-your-digital-afterlife-with.html which is designed for this situation.

I have no idea where to go from here, does anyone have any ideas?

eatcustard · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:00

Get a court order in yanksville, can it be that hard?

Pez · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:05

Firstly, sorry for your loss.

Are you applying for / got a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration in the UK? If so! Have you asked google if they will accept this in place of a US court order - given that the account holder was a British citizen?

I have a lot of experience with deceased estates, so am more than happy to help

TheBigCheese · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:05

It sounds like you've fallen victim to a copy-paste support response, what on earth would a US court have to do with a UK citizen? Is it possible to escalate it or make sure you get hold of someone in Google UK to help?

Good grief eatcustard - could you have posted a more unhelpful reply? Really, what was the point in posting?

Flibster · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:08

Unfortunately, that's what it says they require in Part 2.

Part 2 will require you to get additional legal documents, including an order from a U.S. court and/or additional materials.

Pez · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:13

Flibster said:
Unfortunately, that's what it says they require in Part 2.

I would still suggests the OP if Google are willing to accept a GOP, rather than assume they won't.

Kenai · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:17

Flibster said:
Unfortunately, that's what it says they require in Part 2.

'and/or additional materials'

Given they stipulate 'or' then there is clearly flexibility to use 'additional materials' instead of a US court order

Makhaira · 8 Jul 2013 at 18:51

I'm not sure I've ever suggested this in my life, but maybe this is actually a good time for a letter to your MP or similar? There appears to be a fundamental failing here in something that should be as painless as possible for the people involved in such a tragic situation.

Hope this gets sorted for you OP.

Valo · 8 Jul 2013 at 20:09

Pez said:
Firstly, sorry for your loss.

Are you applying for / got a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration in the UK? If so! Have you asked google if they will accept this in place of a US court order - given that the account holder was a British citizen?

I have a lot of experience with deceased estates, so am more than happy to help

Thanks for the input and offer of help. My Mum has been made Executor of my Sisters estate by Grant of Probate. I'll email Google back and ask if this will be acceptable.

Makhaira said:
I'm not sure I've ever suggested this in my life, but maybe this is actually a good time for a letter to your MP or similar? There appears to be a fundamental failing here in something that should be as painless as possible for the people involved in such a tragic situation.

Hope this gets sorted for you OP.

That's a good idea. I'll keep that for a backup if the Grant of Probate doesn't work.

eatcustard · 9 Jul 2013 at 09:53

TheBigCheese said:
Good grief eatcustard - could you have posted a more unhelpful reply? Really, what was the point in posting?

Why is it unhelpful, you need a yank court order for it, its in there T&Cs.

jas72 · 9 Jul 2013 at 11:16

Probably be faster to get some kid in college to hack the account.

Sorry for your loss.

I had the same when my Mum died we just let her G-mail account linger on don't really care who posts to it her main account was under my control so now I just have automatic replies on.

I think they should pass laws to allow you to unsubscribe from spam without having to log in to your account I've tried my best to unsubscribe from most mailing lists but one or two require you to log in to your account... I've emailed them to tell them they story and they were great about shutting it down but it should be easier.