When my partner (in life as well as business) died a couple of years ago. I was able to transfer all of his Northwest miles into my account with a copy of his death certificate and a copy of the legal form saying that I was his "personal represetative" (executor). They said that they would transfer the miles to any direct (near) relative or to the personal resentative. There was no cost involved and it was handled very quickly and professionally. We were both silver elites at the time.