[Bungleau]

I don't see access being granted by anything other than a court order. Yahoo should, however, freeze the account and prevent it being deleted while the exact logistics are being worked out. Having that get blown away in the middle of this will *not* be good for business...

I suspect this is a situation that no one ever really thought about. Should you have a process for transferring access to your accounts after your passing? True, he doesn't care any more (sadly), but aside from his family's own grief, what if there are friends in there who don't know that he has died? Those emails might be the link to letting them know. They might be the link to a fiancee that wasn't talked about, a grandchild who's scheduled to be born soon... the possibilities are endless, and there are some things that one might want to let others know about after your death.

I *suspect* that Yahoo will have a policy addendum soon, letting you decide if you want the executor of your estate to have access to your email account (or something like that). That will protect them from this happening in the future.

'Tis truly sad that we're in this discussion, though...