What Happens to Your Computer Passwords When You Die?
22 September 2006Here’s an interesting estate planning problem I’d never thought about - more and more people who die are creating serious problems for their family members by failing to put down a list somewhere of their passwords to websites, e-mail accounts, and other things that might be neccessary to plan a funeral or even get at the assets of the deceased.
It’s a vexing, and increasingly common problem for families mourning the loss of loved ones. As more and more people move their lives, address books, calendars, financial information, online, they are taking a risk that some information formerly filed away in folders and desks might never be recovered. That is, unless they share their passwords, which poses security threats.
“He did not keep a hard copy address book. I think everything was online,” said Talcott’s daughter, Julie Talcott-Fuller. “There were people he knew that I haven’t been able to contact. It’s been very hard.”
“Yahoo (his e-mail provider) said it wouldn’t give out the information due to privacy laws, but my dad is dead so I don’t understand that,” she said.
This policy has actually been in the news for another problem it created - families trying to access the e-mails of soldiers who died in the Iraq war. The family in that case had to go to court to get access, and still may not have all the e-mails.
This is something to think about when you write your will. Because of the security issues, I would go stick my passwords on a piece of paper in a safety deposit box, where the person who executed the will could go get it if I died. But you’ve also got to keep in mind that everything you use on a day-to-day basis needs to be listed - and you have to think about whether you really want all your e-mails known to the family after you die. You might want separate passwords for anything you want to die with you. Printing out contact information onto a hard copy can solve the problem of losing your e-mail address book. It’s a thorny problem, and not one people like to think about, but it’s the kind of thing you ought to take care of just in case.
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