Your Will Is Not Your Password List: A Safer Plan for Digital Accounts

Think about how much of your life now sits behind a screen: family photos, email, cloud files, subscriptions, social profiles, online shops and perhaps cryptocurrency.

Would someone you trust know that these accounts exist? Would they know what you wanted to happen to them? Or would they have to search through devices and paperwork at an already difficult time?

A Will remains an important part of planning. But it is not the right place for a changing list of passwords. A safer approach is to make the digital part of your life visible without exposing the keys to it.

“Digital” can mean several different things

Start by separating the types of information involved:

- items with financial value, such as cryptocurrency or a monetised online business;

- personal material, such as photos, videos, messages and cloud documents;

- accounts that control other accounts, especially primary email and mobile numbers;

- subscriptions and recurring payments;

- public profiles, including social media, websites and professional pages; and

- devices and storage, such as phones, computers, external drives and cloud services.

These categories do not all pass to another person in the same way. Ownership, access rights and a provider’s terms can differ. Knowing an account exists is therefore only the first step.

Make an inventory, not a password sheet

Create a simple record with:

- provider or platform name;

- the purpose of the account;

- the email address or username linked to it;

- whether it has financial, personal or business importance;

- what you would prefer to happen, such as preserve, memorialise, transfer where possible or close;

- the provider’s legacy or inactive-account tool, if one exists; and

- where the formal access information or recovery route is stored.

Do not put passwords, PINs, recovery codes, full card details or cryptocurrency seed phrases in an ordinary shared organiser. Those details can change and may give immediate control to anyone who finds the list.

Your inventory should provide navigation, not authority.

Use the provider’s own planning tools

Some major platforms have built-in routes.

Apple lets an account holder name a Legacy Contact. Apple says the contact may be able to request access to certain data after death using an access key and death certificate. It also explains that some information is excluded, including payment information, passwords and passkeys held in iCloud Keychain.

Google’s Inactive Account Manager lets a user choose trusted contacts, decide which data may be shared and set the period of inactivity that triggers the plan. Google says some information cannot be shared and that the plan can be changed later.

These tools are usually safer and clearer than simply giving another person a live password. Review them periodically because platforms, settings and your chosen contacts may change.

Keep the Will and the digital record connected, but separate

Official guidance for England and Wales says a Will should identify who will sort out the estate and that the executor should be told where the original Will is stored. Northern Ireland guidance also recommends keeping the Will safely and telling the executor, a close friend or relative where it is.

Use the same principle for the digital record. Tell the right person that it exists and where the current version is kept. Do not place sensitive access secrets inside the Will itself. In England and Wales, the original Will sent for probate becomes a public record. Northern Ireland guidance also explains that the original Will is lodged in a probate application.

A separate record is easier to update when an email address, device or provider changes.

The legal route is not identical across the UK

Digital planning should never blur the different succession systems.

England and Wales: the people named to administer an estate are executors. GOV.UK says an executor named in a Will may apply for probate and must normally send the original Will. The Will becomes a public record after probate. Complex ownership, overseas assets, crypto or disputes need advice from an appropriately authorised lawyer.

Northern Ireland: an executor named in a Will can apply for a Grant of Probate. NI Direct says the original Will and any codicils are required. Northern Ireland has its own court process and guidance, so do not assume an England-and-Wales form or step applies.

Scotland: the legal authority used to deal with an estate is called confirmation, not probate. Scottish Government guidance says an executor prepares an inventory, pays debts and tax where due, obtains confirmation when required, gathers the estate and distributes it. Scots succession and property law are distinct. The Scottish Government has separately considered how digital assets fit Scots private law, underlining why a cross-border digital holding should be checked carefully.

Five questions for a useful annual review

Once a year, ask:

1. Have I opened or closed any important accounts?

2. Does my chosen contact still know where the inventory is?

3. Have I used the available legacy or inactive-account settings?

4. Are valuable or business-critical digital assets clearly identified?

5. Does my Will still name the right people and reflect my current wishes?

Also review after a major life change, a new business venture, a move abroad or the purchase of a significant digital asset.

Make the route clear, not the secrets visible

The aim is not to give another person unrestricted access today. It is to reduce uncertainty later.

A current inventory, a safely stored Will, provider planning tools and clear instructions about where to start can save a family from having to reconstruct a digital life from scratch.

Begin with one calm task: list the important accounts and what you want to happen to them. Leave the passwords and recovery secrets out of the list.

Would your family know where to start? Ask Your Wills Team about reviewing your Will and organising the information around it. This is general information; the right plan depends on your circumstances and jurisdiction.