>Things that really matter (banks, etc.) have well-established next-of-kin processes.
Banks have next-of-kin processes because they're required to, most companies are not.
With banks, it can take weeks or months to access an account after someone has died. Even when they let you freeze an account, what if that account was also paying for your family’s life insurance or health insurance?
This would be easy if you can just share passwords, but it is illegal to access someone’s bank account or email account after they die without having all the legal docs and following the company’s process. Even if you do everything right, some companies may never give you access. When a girl died of mysterious circumstances, Facebook refused to help her family determine whether her death was suicide or murder: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/facebook-fights-for-...
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this after handling an estate for a loved one and then salvaging a business after suddenly losing a business partner. These were extremely difficult situations to navigate because neither of them had a plan. I cannot emphasize this enough: make a plan or risk losing it all.
Digital assets are significantly more complex than traditional assets, and the estate planning industry is still trying to figure out what do with them because the legal landscape has made this very difficult for consumers like me and you. Many of you mentioned 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden or info in a sealed envelope. Pw managers are great for organizing your digital assets, but beware... they are not enough for this. If your spouse accesses your pw manager after you pass away, and logs into your email, your spouse may have violated 2 US federal laws, a state law and your email provider's TOS. Who cares if people access their deceased spouse's accounts? If you find yourself in this position, be cautious and call a lawyer before you do anything. Companies take your privacy very very seriously, and they have not hesitated to enforce their rights and do what they think is right.
Most states have adopted a form of RUFADAA (Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act) that governs who can access digital assets, but each state might be a little different. Google, Facebook, Apple, and Github have released online tools to set up a legacy contact or inactive account manager -- I agree with @ubermonkey that if you use services provided by these companies, you absolutely should start by using their tools. However, you should also recognize that these tools are LIMITED and are NOT intended to grant full access. Does anyone know if any other companies have provided tools like this? For other digital assets, you should consult an estate planning lawyer in your state (many of the laws are state-specific) and make sure they have expertise planning and managing digital assets.
Disclaimer: there's a group of us working on solutions that operate within the legal requirements so that our heirs/executors aren't left worse off, and we're always interested in new ideas! Also, none of this is legal advice :)
Banks have next-of-kin processes because they're required to, most companies are not.
With banks, it can take weeks or months to access an account after someone has died. Even when they let you freeze an account, what if that account was also paying for your family’s life insurance or health insurance?
This would be easy if you can just share passwords, but it is illegal to access someone’s bank account or email account after they die without having all the legal docs and following the company’s process. Even if you do everything right, some companies may never give you access. When a girl died of mysterious circumstances, Facebook refused to help her family determine whether her death was suicide or murder: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/facebook-fights-for-...
If I ever die of mysterious circumstances…