Guide
Digital Accounts After Death: A Plain-English Checklist
Photos, email, bank logins, subscriptions and social media all live behind passwords that only one person knows. Without a plan, families can be locked out of things that matter and billed for things that do not. A little preparation helps, and it does not require handing over your passwords.
Use the tools the big platforms already offer
- Apple. Add a Legacy Contact in your Apple Account settings so a trusted person can request access to your data after your death.
- Google. Set up Inactive Account Manager to choose who is notified and what they can access if your account is unused for a period you pick.
- Facebook and Instagram. Choose a legacy contact or ask that the account be memorialized or deleted.
- Password manager. Many offer an emergency access feature that lets a trusted person request access after a waiting period. Set it up and tell that person.
Write down where things are, not the secrets
A binder should hold a list of the services you use, such as email, banking, photos, streaming and cloud storage, and where access is kept, such as the name of your password manager and where its recovery kit lives. Keep your phone passcode written down in a safe place that a trusted person can reach, since text-message codes often depend on the phone.
What your family should know
- Which email address is used for bank, tax and insurance accounts.
- Which subscriptions renew automatically, and from which card.
- Where photos and important files are backed up.
- Whether any business, website or domain names are in your name.
- Whether you hold any cryptocurrency, and where access to it is kept. Without access, it generally cannot be recovered.
If you are handling someone else's accounts
Do not guess passwords or log in as the person, which can violate terms of service and lock accounts. Use each company's deceased-user process with a certified death certificate. Keep the phone number active until important accounts are secured.
Review once or twice a year
Accounts change, so update your list whenever you open or close something important, and share the location of the list with a trusted person.
Put it all in one place
The Paper Trail has a digital life section and an encrypted copy for one trusted person, opened with a passphrase only the two of you share.
Frequently asked questions
Should I give my family my passwords?
No. Write down where access is kept, such as the name of your password manager and where its recovery kit lives, and use the emergency access tools platforms provide.
What is an Apple Legacy Contact?
A person you choose in your Apple Account settings who can request access to your data after your death with an access key and a death certificate.
What is Google Inactive Account Manager?
A Google setting that lets you choose who is notified, and what they can access, if your account is unused for a period you pick.
Can my family just log in to my accounts?
Logging in as another person can violate terms of service and can lock accounts. Each company has a process for deceased users, which usually needs a certified death certificate.
AuraByRobbie sells The Paper Trail on Etsy. This guide is general information, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice.