A will covers your house and bank accounts. It rarely covers the phone, the photo library, the email account where every bill arrives, or the subscriptions that keep charging a card after you are gone. A digital estate plan fills that gap.
A digital estate plan has five parts: legacy contacts set inside your accounts, emergency access to your password manager, a written list of your devices and accounts with what you want done with each, your wishes for photos and social media, and a person who knows where all of it is. Keep passwords out of the written list.
The checklist
1. Set up the legacy tools first
Apple Legacy Contact, Google Inactive Account Manager and a Facebook legacy contact are free and take about 20 minutes together. In most US states, what you choose in these tools generally takes priority over your will. Our step-by-step guide: how to set up legacy contacts on iPhone, Google and Facebook.
2. Give someone emergency access to your passwords
Bitwarden, LastPass and Keeper let a trusted person request access after a waiting period; 1Password uses a printed Emergency Kit. See password manager emergency access.
3. List your devices and how to unlock them
For each phone, tablet and computer, write where it is kept and where the sealed passcode is. A locked device with Activation Lock or Factory Reset Protection can be unusable to anyone else.
4. List your accounts, without passwords
| Group | Examples | Note for each |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud Mail | Which one gets bills and password resets | |
| Money | Banks, cards, PayPal, Venmo, investments, crypto | Institution and sign-in email only; no account numbers |
| Bills and subscriptions | Utilities, phone, streaming, cloud storage | Which card or bank pays them |
| Photos and files | iCloud Photos, Google Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox, external drives | Download before cancelling storage plans |
| Social media | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X | Memorialize, delete or leave |
| Websites and business | Domains, hosting, online stores | Renewal dates; keep, sell or close |
| Rewards and balances | Airline miles, gift card balances, store credit | Worth claiming or not |
Write a short instruction next to each: keep running, download first, close, transfer or memorialize.
5. Write your wishes
Social media, email, photos, and anything you want deleted without being read. These are instructions, not a legal document; who inherits money or property belongs in your will.
6. Make it findable
Keep the list with your will or important papers and tell your executor where it is. Ask your estate attorney to include digital assets and electronic communications in your will and power of attorney.
7. Review it once a year
Accounts change. Pick a date you will remember, such as your birthday, and update the list in ten minutes.
Common mistakes
- Writing passwords in the plan. A lost or stolen copy then unlocks everything. Record where passwords are kept instead.
- Leaving out Microsoft. Outlook.com and OneDrive freeze after one year of inactivity and have no legacy tool. See what happens to your accounts when you die.
- Forgetting the phone number. Many banks send sign-in codes by text. Ask your family to keep your line active for a few months.
- Closing the main email account first. Password resets and final bills arrive there.
An example entry
Here is how one line of the account list might read:
| Account | Sign-in email | Paid by | What I want done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Photos (2 TB Google One plan) | [email protected] | Visa ending 4417 | Download everything for my kids first, then cancel the plan and close the account |
It names the service, the email used, how it is paid, and an instruction someone else can follow without guessing.
Where to keep the plan
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Printed, with your will | Families who keep paper records | Updates mean reprinting |
| Fireproof home safe | Sealed passcodes and the plan together | Someone needs the safe combination |
| Your attorney’s file | People with an estate attorney | Ask how updates are handled |
| A shared folder in a password manager | Keeping the list current | Your executor still needs a way in |
A safe deposit box can be hard for family to open quickly after a death in some states, so it is a poor place for the only copy.
What to tell your executor now
- That the plan exists and where it is kept.
- Which legacy tools you set up, so they watch for an Apple request route or a Google email.
- That your phone line should stay active for a few months.
- Not the passwords themselves. Those come through emergency access or sealed envelopes when needed.
Questions
Is a digital estate plan legally binding? The written list and wishes are instructions, not a legal document. The legacy tools inside each account and the digital-assets wording in your will or power of attorney carry legal weight in most US states.
How long does this take? About an hour for the legacy tools and password access, plus one or two sittings to list accounts.
What if I become ill rather than die? A durable power of attorney with digital-assets wording covers that. Password manager emergency access also works while you are alive, which the account legacy tools do not.
Should I include my work accounts? List them so your family knows who to contact, but work email and files belong to your employer.
Two steps make this checklist shorter: close old accounts and track your subscriptions in one place.
Digital Legacy & Account Access Kit · $24
This checklist as a 13-page printable organizer: legacy tool setup, an access map, fill-in pages for every device and account type, a wishes page, a first-month checklist for your family and a yearly review log.
Checked November 2026 for US users. This is general information, not legal advice. For a will, trust or power of attorney, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Sources
- Apple Support: How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple Account
- Google Account Help: About Inactive Account Manager
- Microsoft Support: Accessing Outlook.com, OneDrive and other Microsoft services when someone has died
