You chose your Keepers because you trust them, and some of them are your age or older. So it's a fair question: what happens to your plan if a Keeper dies before you do?
The short answer is that your plan stays yours and nothing goes out. Here's the longer one, in plain words. The settings themselves are yours to see and change on your Keepers page.
A Keeper's passing never releases your plan on its own. PassOn tells you once if it learns of it; add another on your Keepers page.
Plan for my Keepers
Does PassOn know?
Sometimes. If your Keeper has a PassOn account of their own at the email address you gave for them, and their own passing is verified through that account, PassOn tells you once, in the app and by email, using the name you gave them: that your Keeper has passed away, that they no longer count among the Keepers who confirm a passing, and how many of your Keepers now confirm. Your Keepers page marks them as passed away, and the notice leads you straight to adding another.
If your Keeper never had a PassOn account, or had one at a different address, PassOn has no way to know. Then it's up to you: remove them on your Keepers page and add someone else. Marking the person's card as passed away elsewhere in your plan shows the mark beside their name, but it doesn't change who counts; the Keeper role changes only when you change it.
Does my plan still work?
A Keeper who has died counts the same as one who stepped down: not at all. The rule you chose for how many must agree stays as it was, and PassOn applies it to the Keepers who have accepted and are still serving. With one fewer Keeper, that may mean a different number of people, and the notice tells you which.
If none of your Keepers is left who has accepted, no one can confirm a passing until you add one. PassOn says so plainly, in the notice and on your Keepers page. If you allowed it there, the death certificate route remains as a last resort; that choice is yours and you can change it.
Is anything released?
No. A Keeper's passing never sends anything out of your plan. Being a Keeper never showed them your plan either, before or after, and a Keeper you left nothing to receives nothing.
The one case to know about: if another Keeper had already reported your passing and the report was waiting on the Keeper who died, PassOn works the count out again with the Keepers left. If it's now met, the waiting period starts, and you're told, as always, with time to stop it.
What about their own plan?
If your Keeper was a PassOn member, their plan is handled by their own Keepers and the people they named, and nothing of yours is part of it. The two plans never touch.
What should I do now?
Choose more than one Keeper, and set the rule so that one person who's away, or no longer here, can't leave your family stuck. Then look at the list once in a while. People move, change their email and, sometimes, die; a Keepers page that's five years old may not match your life. If a few months go by without you logging in, PassOn sends a short Plan Checkup email asking whether anything has changed, and your Keepers are one of the things to check.
When you add a new Keeper, PassOn invites them, so the role is never a surprise. A short conversation still helps: tell them why you chose them, and who your Estate Handler is.
What your Keepers will need
- To know they're your Keepers, and that their one job is to confirm
- To know who the other Keepers are, so one missing person doesn't stall things
- To know who your Estate Handler is
- To look out for email from PassOn, in the spam folder too
Where this comes from
Written from these pages. Last checked: October 2026.
In PassOn you can choose several Keepers and the rule for how many must agree. If a Keeper whose own PassOn account is at the address you gave passes away, you're told once and can add another; a Keeper's passing never releases your plan on its own.
Related questions
From the Learn library: How Does Keeper Verification Work?
This page is general information, not legal advice. PassOn works alongside your will and your powers of attorney and doesn't replace them, so talk with an attorney in your state about those.
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