Shields and Boris Blog on Elder Care, Health Care, and Caring in General

Managing your online accounts and passwords

Can you answer this question: how many online accounts do you have?  If you’re like many people, you may have no idea.  Think about the types of activities that you engage in online.  You can monitor your investment accounts, send and receive email, upload photos, check on your savings plan, update your life insurance, and much more.

Having all of these online accounts is great when you are alive, but without a little planning this web of internet logins can create a real headache for your survivors.  Think about it: if you died tomorrow, would anyone be able to track down all of your various online accounts – and the passwords that go along with them?

If your family knows about the accounts, there are hoops they can jump through to get access – but it could cost them time and money.  What about accounts that nobody may know about, like a ‘secret’ savings account you were contributing to as a surprise, or other private online accounts?  What will happen to them if you don’t note their existence somewhere?

To save your survivors and your estate executor from unnecessary frustration and expense, take some time to record all of this information somewhere, and either give it to a trusted friend or your attorney.  You can also lock it up in a safety deposit box or your home safe – just make sure somebody knows how to get a key to either of those.

You can read more about this issue in our law library article “Estate administration and online accounts: logins, passwords, and big headaches”.