A Cautionary Tale

In October, dear friends experienced every parent’s worst nightmare. Garrett, their amazing, charismatic, 26-year-old son, was killed by a drunk driver. Garrett never met a stranger, was engaging, energetic, and one of the kindest young men you could ever meet. The world was better with him in it.

Among the many heartbreaking experiences his parents endured was the fact that they could not access his cell phone. They had his phone; they just didn’t know his passcode. And even though the phone plan was in their name, and they paid the bill, not even a death certificate would suffice in allowing the Apple rep to unlock Garrett’s phone. To make matters worse (as if that was even possible), they were told the phone would be permanently disabled after the 10^th failed attempt. So, amid unimaginable grief, they tried to speculate what sequence he might have used. Thankfully, their fourth guess was correct.

If you have elderly parents, a partner, friends, or children of any age who have an iPhone, I share this story as a cautionary tale. Unlocking an iPhone using a completed Legacy Contact Access Key is a simple process. However, it requires the phone user to complete the Legacy Contact Access Key form in advance.

Here are the Apple instructions for obtaining a Legacy Contact Access Key:
“Apple users can add a Legacy Contact for their Apple Account. Adding a Legacy Contact is the easiest, most secure way to give someone they trust access to the data they stored in their Apple Account upon their death.
If you’re a Legacy Contact for a family member or friend who passed away — and you have both the unique access key they created when they added you as a Legacy Contact, and their death certificate — you can initiate a request right on your device or on the Digital Legacy – Request Access page.”

The process really is that simple, and as soon as I learned of this feature, I completed the online form in a matter of minutes.

The links listed above will take you directly to the Legacy Contact Access Key form. Like so many other issues we don’t like to think about and avoid addressing, completing this form is a gift you give your loved ones after you’re gone. Consider it an Advance Directive for your cell phone.