What happens to my Google account when I die?

Nothing happens automatically unless you set something up in advance. Google's mechanism is Inactive Account Manager (IAM): you choose a period of inactivity, and if your account goes quiet for that long, Google notifies up to 10 people you designate and can share specific data categories with them, or simply delete the account. Per Google's own help page: "You can select up to 10 people to receive this data" and the plan triggers "if your Google Account has been inactive for a certain period of time" — there is no death check of any kind; it is a pure inactivity timer. Source

If you never set up IAM, your family can instead use Google's separate deceased-user request process. It offers three distinct outcomes: obtaining data from the account, requesting funds (e.g. an AdSense balance), or closing the account. Google states plainly it "cannot provide passwords or other login details" — no request, however documented, gets your family your actual password. Google also warns about sequencing: "If you select to close the Google account, Google is unable to process any request to turn over the contents of the account at a later date" — so closing the account forecloses any later data request; order matters. Source

What we could not verify: Google's own static help page does not display the exact inactivity period choices (they render inside a sign-in-gated interactive tool). Widely repeated figures like "3 to 18 months" are plausible but not confirmed from Google's own text in this research pass — treat any specific number range as unconfirmed.

Bottom line: set up Inactive Account Manager now. Without it, your family can eventually close the account or, in limited circumstances, get some content — but never your password, and Google decides case by case.

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