What Really Happens to Your M-Pesa Balance When You Die

In Kenya, where M-Pesa is effectively the country’s biggest bank, death can leave behind more than grief. It can lock away money that families urgently need but cannot access because it sits inside a dead relative’s phone, shielded by a 4-digit PIN and complex succession laws.

Millions of Kenyans rely on M-Pesa as their primary wallet. Yet very few know what happens to that money when they die. Many assume the next of kin automatically inherits the funds, or that knowing the deceased’s PIN is enough. In reality, withdrawing money from a dead person’s M-Pesa line is both illegal and treated as intermeddling with an estate, a serious offence under succession law.

The process is bureaucratic, layered, and—if the deceased left a sizeable balance—unavoidably legalistic.

According to Safaricom, the journey begins with a simple but crucial step: notifying the company that the account holder has died. A family member must visit a Safaricom retail shop with an original death certificate. Once the death is confirmed, Safaricom immediately freezes the M-Pesa wallet, blocking all outgoing transactions. The money remains visible but untouchable.  

The claimant must also submit a letter stating their relationship to the deceased and why they are requesting the funds. After that, the process is determined by how much money the deceased left behind.

Small balances—between Sh1 and Sh30,000—are the easiest to inherit. A claimant only needs an affidavit, an ID, the death certificate and a letter from the chief confirming the relationship.  

Medium balances—Sh30,001 to Sh200,000—require a higher level of authority. A letter from the Deputy County Commissioner or the Public Trustee becomes mandatory.  

Any amount above Sh200,000 triggers a full succession process. The family must seek a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration from the courts, the same way they would for land, vehicles, or investments. Only once Safaricom verifies the documents are the funds transferred—not in cash, but directly into the claimant’s own M-Pesa wallet. Safaricom’s service window promises the transfer within 24 hours of receiving the paperwork.

M-Pesa Three-Tier Claims Process

But families do not have forever. Safaricom warns that if an M-Pesa account remains inactive for two years and no claim is made, the firm is legally compelled to surrender the money to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA). After that, the number may be recycled to a new user, but the money enters a government trust where it can sit for decades. Recovering it from UFAA requires even heavier documentation: beneficiary claim forms, indemnity agreements, a Safaricom confirmation letter and court-issued succession papers.  

The rules extend beyond the balance. M-Pesa-linked credit facilities behave differently in death. Products such as Fuliza and M-Shwari often come with embedded insurance, and once Safaricom confirms a death, outstanding digital loans may be written off or covered by the insurer rather than collected from the grieving family. That only applies if the death is formally reported.  

Despite its central role in Kenya’s financial life, digital inheritance remains poorly understood. Lawyers say many families inadvertently commit fraud by using a deceased person’s PIN to empty accounts, unaware they are breaking the law. Others never claim the money at all, either due to bureaucracy or lack of information—explaining why billions of shillings now sit with UFAA.

With over 32 million active M-Pesa users, the stakes are growing. Estate planners now consider M-Pesa wallets part of digital assets that Kenyans should formally name in wills, alongside bank accounts and land.

Experts warn that as digital wallets replace traditional banks for everyday savings, ignorance will become costly not just emotionally, but financially.

The message Safaricom and succession lawyers emphasise is simple: death does not automatically free digital money. Without proper documents, your M-Pesa balance can disappear into the government’s unclaimed assets vault—far beyond the reach of the people you leave behind.