Friday, May 12, 2017

An Avoidable Email Situation

Plugging in... 

The practical, but unpleasant issue of dealing with a deceased person's gmail account. A recent client ran into this problem: her deceased sister's gmail account was forwarding email to her comcast email account. One day, without warning, my client was prompted to enter the password for her sister's gmail account. This is when we figured out what was going on since the prompt had never happened previously. Hmmm. Not only did she not have the gmail password, but... the options that gmail provided to "recover" (cell phone number, alternative email address) the password, were no longer in service.

Some websites provide the ability to prepare for this inevitable situation. You may have to search their website(s) to find out what to do. In the case of gmail, the company Google has an "Inactive Account" manager option that can be filled out now, while everyone is healthy and able. Google's Inactive Account Manager

So what did my client do? She was prompted to upload a copy of HER license to prove who she was, AND upload a copy of her sister's death certificate. She opted not to do anything, and when the window prompts her in the future for the gmail password, she will continue to click cancel and continue working uninterrupted in her own email account.
 
ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, and is it turned on? 

Unplugged

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