Ask HN: Digital/Online Estate Management | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Digital/Online Estate Management

1 pointraleighm3 comments

Apologies for morbid questions. How does everyone intend to manage their digital assets after they die?

If you’ve got the family’s photo trove or important files in Dropbox, how do you plan for your kids or executor or etc to get access?

One might say: “Uhm, give them the password.” But no one knows when they’ll die; passwords are updated from time to time; and “giving” a password can be done in various manners.

What do you intend to do w/ your email account, if you don't mind sharing? Do you want your family having access?

What do you intend to do w/ social media accounts, if you don't mind sharing? Have them closed?

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Try to reduce the burden on whoever is surviving you. When my parents passed, it was overwhelming.

1) every year or two, print out your password manager and put it in your fire safe (or wherever you keep your passports and other important documents). Tell your family members where it is. For all accounts with 2fa, think about adding a second device. Don't forget the password to unlock your computer, and the password to unlock your password manager.

2) for photos and videos, I'd recommend managing them with something you own. I'm using PhotoStructure. Add a note in the passwords folder about where your server is, where any backups are, and if you've got any cloud hosting.

3) for social media accounts, I'd just list them with your passwords. When my parents passed, I posted on their accounts to notify their friends and coworkers of their passing, and funeral details.

4) email accounts will probably need to be kept open until all accounts have changed over to the survived. This probably won't be done quickly.

5) have a list of accounts that require subscriptions to make it easier to either close or transfer.

6) write a will. There are online services that make this easier.

1) I subscribed to 1-Password which allows you to create a shared vault with another family user. 1-Password family plan solves this issue.

Put everything in a password manager. Set the master password as the answer to some riddle that only your loved ones would know the answer to. Put the riddle in the will.

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