You WILL Die, And Then What?
Almost everything I own, that is of any interest to those that will have to worry about such things when I die, is electronic and stored online.
Get At Your Stuff / Account
A few of the major online services companies now let you grant access to all/some of your data in the event of your death. This is the data, not the account, you can't pretend to be the dead person by logging in as them unless you know their username/password.
"How do they know I'm dead Mike?", well they don't but they do know the last time you used any of their services and after a number of months of not doing so they assume you're dead.
Here's a list of companies that let you tell them what/who to give access to once you're dead/no longer actively using their stuff:
- Apple:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102631 - Google:
https://myaccount.google.com/inactive - Microsoft, forget it by what I can find:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/accessing-outlook-com-onedrive-and-other-microsoft-services-when-someone-has-died-ebbd2860-917e-4b39-9913-212362da6b2f - LinkedIn, delete or memorialise:
https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1380121
Meta
They don't grant access to a dead persons account(s) but will memorialise it
- Facebook:
https://m.facebook.com/help/1070665206293088 - Instagram:
https://help.instagram.com/151636988358045 - WhatsApp, auto-deleted after 120 days inactivity:
https://faq.whatsapp.com/828406668498455/
Make A Will
This is so obvious, just do it!
[Mike: Yes, go on then Mike, bloody do it!!]
Here's links if you don't know where to start making a will:
And once you've made your will send a copy to the people you've granted access your data.
Passwords and PINs
Hmmm, this is an interesting one as we rapidly move to a password-less world with passkeys, fingerprints, and face recognition as the keys via our physical items.
If you do have a password or PIN set-up for stuff (phone, laptop, bank cards) then write it down on a piece of paper and give it to those people you have granted access to.
Having access to a dead persons phone may be important as a lot of current systems use 2FA to verify logins and very likely it'll be on their phone.
Note: I use Google Docs and have written mine into one and shared it those that will have access to my stuff once I'm dead and gone.
I should print it though and pop it into a sealed envelope and give it to them because who knows what "Google Docs" and "shared with" will mean by the time I pop my clogs.
Everything else
The NZ Community Advice Bureau (CAB) has an excellent list of stuff to make sure people know BEFORE you die and is relevant no matter where in the world you live.
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