UK Residents May Now Name Heirs For Facebook Account

Facebook likes to be at the forefront of all things social media and has continued that trend with the introduction of the ability to name an heir to an account. This feature, currently available in the UK only, allows the named person to take limited control over the account, such as the ability to accept friend request, in order to keep the profile active. However, the caretaker will not be able to remove previous post by the deceased or use the private message feature of the account. This change builds on the memorial feature, around since 2007, which allowed users to request that a deceased persons page be frozen but kept alive. This move is likely the herald of a wave of change as the issue of digital heirs moves into the forefront of estate planning challenges.