Many people have wills that determine who receives their property after they die. But what happens to their email accounts, Facebook profile and other online services? Photos and documents may be lost forever, as some accounts cannot be claimed by anyone else. Even the accounts that can be transferred may require hours of work on the part of survivors—assuming they even know that the accounts exist. And allowing the accounts to languish can lead to fraud and identity theft. Here are some of the solutions to consider when creating a plan for your online life after death.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests that you start by making an inventory of your digital life, including all of the accounts used for email, social media, blogging, online gaming and cloud storage. Your inventory should include each site’s name, URL, your user name and password, and any other information needed to access the account (e.g., if the site uses two-factor authentication). You should also indicate what you wish to have your survivors do with the account and its contents. Keep the inventory in a safe place, but do not attach it to your will. Your will may become a public document after your death.
Some services, such as Google’s Inactive Account Manager, allow you to make arrangements for what happens to your account “when you stop using it” for a period of time. Others may allow you to name someone to manage the account after your death. Determine which of the services you use have these options. For example, Apple does not. All survivors can do is close the account, at which time all files will be deleted. If these are the only copies of photos, videos and other irreplaceable files, they will be gone forever if no one else can access the account on behalf of the deceased account holder.
The FTC also suggests naming a digital executor to handle all of your online accounts after your death. You may choose a family member or friend who would be comfortable with online accounts, or hire a third-party service. The digital executor could log in to your accounts, retrieve any data you wanted to go to others, then close the accounts.
Engadget. com suggests that instead of (or in addition to) keeping a written list of your account information, you could use a password manager such as Last Pass. Then you simply have to make your digital executor aware of the Last Pass account and how to access it.
Making an estate plan for your online accounts will help your family. But what about when it is already too late? Perhaps you are dealing with cleaning up the accounts of a loved one who passed away without making these arrangements. Engadget. com has a guide that explains what family members can do to claim or close accounts on several major services, including Facebook, Twitter, Outlook and others.
Some states are considering laws to help survivors clean up a loved one’s online presence after death. Even when such a law is passed in your state, being proactive about your accounts will make sure that you control access to your digital assets just as your will determines how the rest of your estate will be distributed.
