
Ask HN: Digital/Online Estate Management - raleighm
Apologies for morbid questions. How does everyone intend to manage their digital assets after they die?<p>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?<p>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.<p>What do you intend to do w&#x2F; your email account, if you don&#x27;t mind sharing? Do you want your family having access?<p>What do you intend to do w&#x2F; social media accounts, if you don&#x27;t mind sharing? Have them closed?
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mceachen
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.

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mail2vks
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.

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TechBro8615
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.

