A Simple List May Simply Not Work

If something happens to you, your loved ones will need to access your accounts to manage your assets. What’s the best solution?

The Vulnerable Chain of Linked Access

Even if your family has your correct password, the verification code might go to an email address that no longer exists. Every online account relies on its own chain of linked access.

For example, the phone number linked to an account may have changed, or an authenticator app may only work on one specific, physical device. If that device is locked, damaged, or unavailable to the family, the second factor goes nowhere.

When just one link in that chain is broken, the account becomes unreachable without going through the platform’s own lengthy recovery process. Digital accounts are truly only as accessible as the most current version of every linked email address, phone number, and device.

Financial Accounts Usually Cause the Most Trouble

The accounts that typically create the most problems for family members are financial accounts, as well as those used for operations and document storage, like email and cloud storage accounts.

Financial accounts that exist exclusively online, those that have no physical branch you can visit, still require specific documentation that is difficult to provide without proper legal authority. From investment platforms to retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, these each have unique processes that your family would need to work through to gain access.

There’s also a rapidly growing category of digital-only assets. They include cryptocurrency, online business accounts, subscription revenue, and licensing agreements. These assets represent real financial value that disappears entirely if no one knows they exist or how to access them.

On the operational side, email accounts  can hold years of financial statements. They often act as the main recovery key for your other platforms. Operations documents  and other financial files, and other key information may also be stored on encrypted cloud storage. Any estate plan that doesn’t properly inventory and address these critical digital assets and storage systems is incomplete.

Navigating RUFADA and Legal Authority

Using someone’s login credentials after they pass away violates most terms of service and may not be legally appropriate. The correct approach is to go through each platform’s official deceased account process.

In many states, a legal framework called the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act governs exactly what an executor can access. Under this framework, a will or trust must include explicit digital estate provisions that give your executor specific legal authority to access, manage, transfer, and close your digital assets.

Without that specific legal language, even a valid will might leave your executor with less authority than they need. Digital estate laws vary by state, and what one bank requires may differ wildly from what a brokerage, a cloud storage provider, or a cryptocurrency exchange requires.