Digital estate planning checklist: what to prepare for your family
When someone dies, their family often spends months just working out which accounts, subscriptions and policies exist. A digital estate plan doesn't have to be complicated: it's a list of what you have, who should get access, and what you'd like to happen. Use this checklist to build yours. You can print this page.
1. Devices
- Your phone, computer and tablet, and where they are kept.
- How to unlock them, or who already knows.
- Any hardware security keys or authenticator devices.
2. Email accounts
- Every email address you use, including old ones that still receive mail.
- Backup codes for two-factor authentication.
- Why it matters: email is the key to resetting almost every other account.
3. Money and insurance
- Bank accounts, savings, pensions and investments: the institution and account type. Your executor will deal with them through each institution's bereavement process.
- Insurance policies: life, home, health, travel.
- Loans, mortgages and credit cards.
- Any cryptocurrency, with clear instructions on where the keys or recovery phrases are kept and how to access them safely.
4. Subscriptions and regular payments
- Streaming, software, news, gyms, memberships.
- Phone, internet, energy and other utilities.
- Domain names and website hosting, which are easy to forget and can expire.
5. Photos, files and memories
- Cloud storage accounts (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive).
- Where the photos and videos that matter most are kept.
- Anything you'd like downloaded and kept, and by whom.
6. Social media
- Each account, and whether you'd like it memorialized or deleted.
- The legacy contact you've named where the platform allows it.
7. Built-in legacy settings
- Apple Legacy Contact: set up, and access key shared with the right person.
- Google Inactive Account Manager: set up, with trusted contacts chosen.
- Password manager emergency access, if you use one.
8. Important documents
- Where your will is, and who your executor is.
- Property deeds, vehicle papers, contracts.
- Identity documents, and any medical directives or powers of attorney.
- Contact details for your lawyer, notary, accountant or financial adviser.
9. Work and business
- Work accounts your employer will need to recover.
- Business accounts, clients to notify, and who can take over.
10. Your wishes
- What should be kept, shared, downloaded or deleted.
- Personal messages for the people you love.
- Anything you'd rather stay private.
Where to keep all this
This list is sensitive: together, it's a map of your life. Don't keep it as a plain document on your computer or phone. Good options include a password manager with emergency access, a sealed envelope held by your lawyer or notary, or an encrypted vault designed to be passed on. Whatever you choose, tell your trusted people where it is, and review it once a year.
Note: a digital estate plan helps your family find things. It doesn't replace a will, and it isn't legal advice.