Giving Your Executor Access to Your Online Accounts

Guidance prepared by Mary Randolph, J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law.

We live so much of our lives online now that if you die or lose the capacity to manage your own affairs, the people handling things for you will need a way into your digital accounts. Think about everything tied up in a login: your bank accounts, autopay arrangements, investment records, paperless mortgage statements, credit card bills. Someone has to keep an eye on your email for anything urgent. Someone may need to post to your social media to let friends know what's happened. None of that is possible if your executor or family can't get past the login screen.

Without access, your spouse or whoever you've entrusted with your affairs may have to petition a court just to log into an account you used every single day. That process costs money and takes time you'd rather your family not spend. The good news is that it's entirely avoidable, as long as you set things up so the right person can find your information when they need it.

• What not to do with your usernames and passwords
• Keeping a record of your login details
• Giving your executor legal authority over your online accounts
• Other ways to get organized

What not to do with your usernames and passwords

Never write your passwords or usernames into your will. A will turns into a public record once it's filed with the local probate court after you die, and the law requires that filing even if your estate never actually goes through a full probate process.

A living trust doesn't get filed with the court, so it stays private in a way a will doesn't. Even so, it's not a good home for your login information. People change passwords all the time, and a trust document isn't something you casually update. By the time anyone needs it, most of what's listed there will probably be outdated.

Keeping a record of your login details

The better approach: write out a separate list of your usernames, passwords, PINs, and the accounts they belong to, then make sure someone you trust knows where to find it and how to use it.

You might put this list in a letter kept apart from your will, or in a spreadsheet. If you already rely on a password manager, such as LastPass, 1Password, or Bitwarden, you can simply pass along the one master password that unlocks everything stored inside.

Whatever method you choose, revisit it whenever you change a password, so the list stays accurate.

Your letter, spreadsheet, or password manager should cover how to get into:

• laptops, phones, tablets, and other personal devices
• email accounts
• photo storage sites
• social media accounts such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn
• financial sites, including banks and brokerages where you keep money or investments
• college savings and retirement accounts
• mortgage payment accounts
• any company, such as a credit card issuer or utility, where you've set up automatic payments
• software you use, such as tax preparation or legal document tools or sites
• online subscriptions, and
• your internet provider or web hosting service.

Giving your executor legal authority over your online accounts

Beyond handing over the actual login details, it helps to also give your executor formal authority over your digital property. This protects you if an account slips through the cracks in your inventory, or if a password changes after you last updated your list. You can grant this authority by stating clearly in your will or living trust that your executor has power over your digital assets. (See A Plan for Your Digital Assets.) Some platforms, including Facebook and Apple, also offer their own legacy contact tools worth setting up directly on the account.

Other ways to get organized

Beyond digital accounts, your executor or family may also need to reach physical property that's locked away or protected, such as a safe deposit box or a home alarm system. See Help Your Executor: Secured Places and Passwords for guidance on that side of things.

The specifics of what's legally required, and how probate works, can vary by state, so it's worth checking your own state's rules or talking with an estate planning attorney if you're unsure how any of this applies to your situation.