Friend locked out of their device. What are the options?

Hi all, this is really urgent. My friend lost access to his Apple ID and iCloud data of about 5 years after a family member removed themselves (according to him) from family. He is saying that Apple said it would take $300 to recover it. My question is, can an organiser lose all his access if a family member removes themselves? (I found that hard to believe) And what can be done that doesn’t involve this much money?

I would really appreciate if someone could help me out on this!