Writing down what happens to your accounts one day
Name one trusted person on your account, and leave a single sheet of paper that saves your family months of difficulty.
This is not a gloomy job. It is an afternoon’s work that spares somebody you love a very long spring.
When somebody dies now, the hard part is rarely the will. It is the eleven accounts nobody knew existed, the subscription that keeps taking $9.99 a month, and — over and over — a phone full of photographs of the grandchildren that nobody can open.
There are two halves to it, and both are needed. One is a setting inside the account. The other is a single sheet of paper.
Key points
- Name one trusted keeper on an account, giving them nothing today
- Say why passwords belong on paper rather than in an email
- Know what goes on the sheet and what should be left off it
- Tell one person that the envelope exists, and check it yearly
What to remember
- Most large services now have this. It is usually under Account, and usually called something gentle.
- One sheet of paper, in the same place as the will, updated with a pen. It is old-fashioned, and it is what actually works.
- What exists, and how to get into the phone. Not the banking. One page is the right length.
- A sealed envelope nobody knows about is the same as no envelope. Two people knowing is the whole point.
Try this
Write one line on a piece of paper tonight: the code that unlocks your phone. Put it in an envelope with the will, or in the drawer where the important papers live. That single line is more useful to your family than everything else on this list put together.
Practice: Writing down what happens to your accounts one day. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.