Digital afterlife - what happens to our accounts and crypto when we die?

Learned this the hard way - document EVERYTHING. I keep encrypted file with all accounts, passwords, and recovery info that my wife knows how to access. Update quarterly. morbid but necessary in digital age

sysadmin who's built "digital legacy protocol" for our company clients. Reality check: 99% of people will never organize this properly. Practical approach: create single document with ONLY master access points (primary email + password manager). Rest can be recovered from there

crypto is completely different beast. if nobody has seed phrase/private keys, that money is gone forever. period. millions already lost this way. hardware wallet + seed phrase in safe deposit box + instructions for trusted person is bare minimum

fb/instagram have memorialization options. Google has inactive account manager. Apple has legacy contacts. Amazon has... Nothing. Start with biggest accounts, most have SOME process now, but all different and all buried in settings

Weird thought but consider emotional impact of giving someone access. My dad died last year and scrolling through his email was gut-wrenching. Found messages he'd written about his illness he never told us about. Sometimes ignorance is mercy

digital legacy is classist af. Wealthy people with lawyers set up trusts that handle this. Regular folks lose access to family photos and assets forever. Just another way inequality persists after death

built custom solution after paranoid spiral: 3 trusted contacts each get fragment of master key, requires 2/3 to unlock

annual test runs where they practice combining pieces

overkill? yes

sleeping better? also yes

crazy part is legality differs by jurisdiction. some states have digital asset laws (RUFADAA), others nothing. international situation even worse. discord account in california, servers in virginia, you live in texas, die in florida... legal nightmare

Stumbled on this study about digital afterlife tech on researchgate while researching. Super relevant to this thread. They're exploring some wild concepts beyond basic password management. Worth checking out if you're into this topic

Don't ignore financial stuff beyond crypto. Paypal, venmo, online banking, investment accounts, subscription services still charging monthly. Money just disappears into corporate pockets if nobody knows to cancel

Hot take: created separate "legacy" accounts for important stuff. Clean email, sanitized social media, organized cloud drives - stuff I WANT family to find. Personal chaotic accounts die with me. Balance between practical access and privacy

Speaking as infosec professional - giving someone ALL your passwords creates massive security risk while alive. Better approach: password manager with emergency access feature. Bitwarden/1password both allow this without exposing passwords during your life

Cultural attitudes toward digital remains interesting - Japan treats digital assets like physical ones for inheritance. Europe focused on right to be forgotten. America focused on corporate rights over user rights. Choose your digital afterlife based on location lol

Yall missing human element. appointed my brother as digital executor in my will. Regularly have "death admin" conversations about what matters to me. Technology changes but clear intentions matter most

Studied this for my masters thesis. interviewed 200+ families dealing with digital remains. Fascinating pattern: younger relatives want access to accounts, older ones prioritize financial assets, middle-aged just want photos. Nobody agrees on what "matters" until after someone's gone