A Figma administrator may hold the practical knowledge that keeps a design studio running: where client files live, who approves seats, and which library powers the product. After that person dies, colleagues can still open some designs while important administrative tasks have no clear owner. Families may also need to distinguish business responsibilities from personal creative work.
This checklist helps design studios, product teams, and independent creators organize an authorized handover. It focuses on Organization and Enterprise plans; a Professional team needs its own review of team administration and billing. The recommendations are a continuity plan built around Figma's published controls, not a guaranteed bereavement transfer procedure. Agree who may make decisions before changing access or moving client material.
1. Identify the plan and the coordinator
Record the organization name, relevant team and file URLs, the deceased person's work email, known administrators, and subscription references. Ask project leads to identify active client deliveries, private folders, and design-system source files. Include FigJam boards and other Figma products actually used by the team. A list of recently opened designs is rarely a complete inventory.
Choose a coordinator who can work with management, finance, and the estate representative where appropriate. Record who may approve access, spending, preservation, and closure. Give each unresolved item a responsible person and review date. Avoid sending confidential client files to family members simply because they are helping with the estate; share only the information needed for their responsibilities.
2. Verify surviving administrative access
Ask a surviving administrator to sign in with their own account and check the actual organization. Figma distinguishes team, workspace, billing group, and organization administrators. An organization administrator has broader responsibility than a team administrator. Record the role and scope of each available successor, then test the controls needed for this handover rather than relying on a job title.
For future planning, an existing organization administrator can grant admin access to an eligible member through Admin, People, and the member's menu. Figma says guests cannot become organization administrators. Choose a suitable internal successor and verify that the invitation, sign-in, and administrative access work. Keep recovery instructions in approved secure storage rather than embedding passwords in the continuity note.
If no suitable administrator remains, contact Figma Support through its official help channel. Explain the death, identify the organization, and describe the missing control. Ask what evidence of organizational authority is required and how to submit it securely. Keep the case reference and confirmed next steps. Do not promise colleagues that a particular document guarantees access or that verification has a fixed completion time.
3. Separate ownership, permissions, and location
Inventory critical files and folders with their URLs, locations, collaborators, and intended successors. For each item, ask whether the team needs editing access, a new owner, movement to shared storage, or all three. These are separate decisions. Make a small handover table so a completed permission change does not hide an unresolved storage problem.
Figma's ownership documentation says only the current owner can perform the normal file or folder ownership transfer. It also says that transferring file ownership does not move the file. After a death, ask Support about unresolved ownership rather than treating this normal owner-operated process as a recovery shortcut. During planning ahead, move business work into appropriate shared folders and test successor access while the creator can assist.
4. Review drafts before account changes
Treat drafts as a distinct preservation task. Figma's organization removal documentation says a removed member's or guest's organization drafts become accessible to organization administrators in Admin. Shared-file contributions remain, but removal does not automatically assign a new file owner. Review the applicable process and assign responsibility for locating and handling those drafts.
Removing someone from an organization and deleting their Figma account are different operations. Figma's file transfer guidance warns that account deletion deletes files in that account's drafts even if ownership was transferred. It also explains that exported .fig files omit permissions, comments, and version history. Use an authorized export as one preservation measure, verify it opens, and record those limitations. Avoid describing a local file as a complete account backup.
Coordinate routine removal with the identity administrator. Domain capture and single sign-on settings can affect access to teams outside the organization, according to the removal guidance. Inventory known external teams and dependencies first. If urgent security concerns require immediate suspension, document the preservation tasks still outstanding and handle them through authorized administrators.
5. Preserve libraries and design responsibilities
List the source files for shared components, styles, and other design-system resources, together with the designs that depend on them. Assign a person to maintain each important library and a colleague to review changes. Record which client or internal team may approve publication. Administrative continuity is more useful when it includes the people who understand the design decisions.
Before moving or recreating library material, test a representative consuming file and document what works. Ask an authorized designer to open an important prototype, check its assets, and confirm that the expected resources are available. Keep a dated record of missing dependencies. A static PDF may preserve a visual reference while leaving editable structure and library relationships unresolved.
Include delivery commitments in the handover: pending reviews, development handoffs, client sign-offs, and promised exports. Record where related specifications, licensed fonts, image permissions, and contracts are stored. Figma access does not by itself answer who may reuse every asset. Route contractual questions to the person responsible for the agreement before distributing work outside the approved team.
6. Maintain billing and connected services
Ask the authorized administrator and finance contact to review invoices, renewal dates, payment methods, seat responsibilities, and the monitored billing address. Figma's admin role guide identifies billing among organization administrators' responsibilities. Confirm who can approve ongoing costs and record any approved changes. Do not cancel a plan merely to resolve an unclear ownership issue without assessing continuity needs.
Inventory plugins, tokens, automation, developer handoff tools, and external storage used in real workflows. Identify dependencies tied to the deceased person's identity and arrange authorized replacements where needed. Test a routine workflow using suitable sample material, then record the result. Schedule credential changes with the security owner so continued operations do not leave unreviewed access indefinitely.
7. Rehearse the continuity plan
Write a short note containing organization identifiers, backup administrators, critical file and library links, finance contacts, support case references, secure recovery locations, and retention wishes. Link it to the broader online business continuity plan. Keep personal creative work on a separately documented path when its handling differs from business records.
Ask a backup administrator to find the organization settings, a designer to open a critical file, and finance to locate the renewal information. Record the rehearsal date and repair the gaps it reveals. Repeat the review after staff departures, plan changes, or major library reorganizations. A tested handover reduces uncertainty for colleagues and makes fewer demands on the family during a difficult time.
Next steps
Name a coordinator, confirm surviving access, and inventory files, drafts, libraries, billing, and integrations. Seek Support guidance where ownership or administrative access remains unresolved. Preserve authorized material before routine account changes, test the successor's working access, and finish with a dated list of completed actions and open questions.