Online account management after death
Death it is not a possibility but a certain fact that only depends on when and not if, it makes sense to prepare a list of all your valuable online accounts like Paypal, Google account, Flickr, eBay, Amazon, Hotmail, domain registrar accounts, etc, for your loved ones.
You could store all of your digital accounts user names and passwords inside an encrypted file and tell your next of kin what the password is, with instructions to open it up and seize your digital accounts after you die, or you could use an online trustee that will take care of all of your digital assets and pass them on to your selected beneficiaries.
The companies managing your online accounts will verify that you have died before carrying out any instructions, you can leave a last email to be sent after your death, including attachments with photos or documents, some trustee services can be directed to update your social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, etc) announcing you have died.
Online legacy companies
AfterSteps: They will send you a detailed planning guide to understand how everything works, you can upload any digital document and receive reminders about your progress completing the whole process. The company guarantees that your end of life plan will be received by your designated verifier, usually a family member or loved one, after you pass away.
Digital legacy services AfterSteps
Legacy Locker: After human verification process of your death or incapacitation, Legacy Locker will grant access to your loved ones to your digital accounts and digital documents or photos stored with them, until then, all of your stored data is kept encrypted and nobody can access it, not even the company can view your data.
Legacy Locker online trustee after death
SecureSafe: Any online account with a password and a username can be left with SecureSafe, there are various plans available, the basic one transfers your passwords and usernames to your designated person after death verification.
SecureSafe online legacy services
AssetLock: It will organize all of the data you would like your family to know about if anything happened to you, this is not an online will but a digital assets manager that will pass on everything to your loved ones when you pass away, data is encrypted using AES 256bit. You should create various accounts and write down the credentials on your paper will for the benefactors to be able to log in and read the data.
AssetLock online digital assets
MyWonderfulLife: This service will help you plan your funeral online leaving letters for your loved ones and notes telling them where everything is located and what your last wishes are, you can even write your own orbituary after sharing stories and memories.
MyWonderfulLife funeral planning
Dazed and Confused
After reading this article, I am more confused than ever about what happens to my digital assets after I die. Why should I “create various accounts”?