Think about how much of your life lives behind a login: family photos in the cloud, years of email, the account that pays the electric bill, a social media profile your friends still visit. If you suddenly couldn't log in, whether because of an accident, a long hospital stay or something more permanent, would anyone you trust know what exists, where it is, and what you'd want done with it?
A digital legacy plan answers those questions ahead of time. It isn't a list of passwords. It's a map: what accounts and devices you have, who you've chosen to help, and what you want to happen to each one. This checklist walks through it step by step. (For the specifics of sharing passwords safely, see our guide on how to leave your digital accounts and passwords to family.)
Why a plan matters
Most online services are built to keep everyone except the account holder out. That's good for security, and hard on families. Without a plan, the people you leave in charge may spend months trying to reach companies, may lose photos stored only in one account, or may keep paying subscriptions no one can cancel. Many states have adopted a law (often called RUFADAA) that lets you say, through a service's own tools or in your estate documents, who can access your digital accounts. The tools only help if you actually set them up.
Step 1: Make an inventory of what you have
Start with a simple list. Write the company name and what the account is for. Do not write passwords.
- Email: usually the most important account, because it's how most other passwords get reset.
- Phone and cloud: your phone carrier, Apple or Google account, cloud photo and file storage.
- Money: banks, credit cards, investment and retirement accounts, payment apps, crypto exchanges. Company names only, or the last 4 digits at most.
- Shopping and loyalty: online stores with saved cards, airline miles, hotel and store points.
- Social media and websites: profiles, pages you manage, a blog or domain name you own.
- Subscriptions: streaming, software, apps, memberships, meal kits. These keep billing until someone stops them.
- Work and business: client files, a store, a channel or a creator account that earns money.
Step 2: List your devices and where their recovery info lives
A locked phone or laptop can block access to almost everything else. For each device, note what it is, where it's kept and where its recovery information lives (for example, "the passcode is in my password manager" or "recovery key is in the sealed envelope in the fireproof box"). Write where it is, not what it is.
Step 3: Turn on the legacy features that already exist
Several big services let you name someone ahead of time. Names and steps change, so check the current settings on each service, but here's what to look for:
- Apple: a Legacy Contact setting lets you choose people who can request access to your account data after you're gone.
- Google: the Inactive Account Manager lets you decide what happens if your account goes unused for a period you choose, and who gets notified or receives data.
- Facebook: you can choose a legacy contact to look after a memorialized profile, or ask for the account to be deleted.
- Instagram: family members can request that an account be memorialized or removed, so write down your preference.
- Password managers: many offer an emergency access or emergency kit feature that lets a trusted person get in under rules you set.
When you set one up, write down the date. It's easy to forget what you've done, and a family member will want to know it's in place.
Step 4: Decide what you want
This is the part only you can do. For each kind of account, think about:
- Social media: memorialize, delete or keep as is? Who should share the news, and where?
- Photos and files: who should get copies? Is there anything that should be deleted, not shared?
- Email: should someone read it to find bills and accounts, or should it be closed without reading?
- Business or creator accounts: who can keep them running, hand them off, or shut them down cleanly?
- Subscriptions: which ones to cancel right away, and which ones the family may want to keep.
Step 5: Keep it safe and keep it current
- No passwords on paper. Point to where access lives instead, such as a password manager with emergency access.
- Tell someone it exists. A plan no one can find doesn't help. Tell your chosen person where it's kept.
- Connect it to your other plans. If you have a will or an estate attorney, ask whether your digital wishes should be mentioned there too.
- Review once a year. New phone, new bank, a new app you pay for: add it. A birthday or tax season is an easy reminder.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Writing every password in a notebook that anyone could find.
- Sharing your own login with family "just in case." Using someone else's credentials may break a service's terms, and it gets messy fast.
- Forgetting two-factor authentication. If codes go to your phone, someone needs a plan for that phone.
- Making the plan once and never updating it.
Put it all on paper (without the passwords)
A notebook or a simple document is enough: an account and device inventory, a legacy contact checklist with the date you set each one up, social media wishes, photos and files, business and creator accounts, subscriptions and a yearly review. Follow one safety rule on every page: write where access lives, never the password itself.
For the medical part of being prepared, get the free ER-Ready Kit: the one-page Emergency Health Summary, the "Where should I go?" guide and interpreter wallet cards, in English and Spanish.
Not sure where to start? Take the free 2-minute Readiness Score quiz.
The Ambos Health team
General information, not legal or financial advice. Service features change; check each company's current settings. For estate documents, talk to an attorney.