From time to time I volunteer to help elderly people with technology issues.  I am not a professional and do this as a volunteer at the local charity-owned retirement village.  

The most common issue is with access to Google/iCloud accounts where the owner has lost their record of passwords.  This is what 'Forgot Password' is for, except that to access this requires retrieval of a verification code from an email address or cell phone.  For good reasons the email address and phone number are not listed in full.

Recovery email addresses and phone numbers can be well out of date.  For elderly folks it may be a relatives email account or phone number from years ago, who helped them set up the account.  So is there any way forward when access to recovery emails/phones is no longer possible?  I cant think of any way forward that is not vulnerable to fraudulent misuse.