A will disposes of property. Your photographs, your email archive, your writing, and the accounts holding all of it are governed by terms of service you agreed to, and those generally do not transfer on death the way property does.
Which means an executor with full legal authority may be unable to access an email account, retrieve family photographs, or close a subscription — not because the law prevents it, but because the provider has no mechanism and no obligation.
What changed in 2026
- Legacy contact features became more common. Major platforms offered mechanisms for designating someone, with varying capability.
- Legislation advanced unevenly. Fiduciary access to digital assets improved in some jurisdictions and remained inconsistent.
- Password manager emergency access matured. Time-delayed access became a standard feature.
- Cloud photo archives grew. More of family memory sat in accounts nobody else could open.
Why providers say no
Terms of service typically prohibit account sharing and do not provide for transfer on death. Privacy obligations also cut against handing over correspondence, which involves other people's communications too.
Some providers will delete an account on proof of death and not release its contents. Some will release specific data with a court order. Some offer nothing.
Legislation in various jurisdictions has begun addressing fiduciary access, generally giving effect to whatever mechanism the provider offers and to explicit instructions the account holder left. That framing matters: the tools the provider gives you take precedence, which makes configuring them the practical step.
Configure legacy contacts now
The action that actually works, and it takes minutes per account.
Major platforms offer a mechanism to designate someone who can access or manage your account after death, subject to verification. Capabilities vary — some grant access to data, some allow memorialisation, some only allow deletion.
Configuring these for your important accounts is the single most effective preparation. It is a supported process, it works, and almost nobody does it.
| Account type |
Typical mechanism |
| Major email and cloud platforms |
Inactive account or legacy contact settings |
| Social platforms |
Memorialisation or designated contact |
| Password managers |
Emergency access with a time delay |
| Financial accounts |
Beneficiary designations — see beneficiary audit |
| Subscriptions |
Generally none; cancellation only |
Password manager emergency access is particularly valuable: a designated person requests access, you have a set period to decline, and if you do not, they receive it. That covers the accounts with no legacy mechanism of their own.
Do not put passwords in your will
A will becomes a public document in many jurisdictions once probated. Passwords in it are published.
It is also out of date immediately — passwords change and the will does not.
Instead, the will should point to where access information lives: a password manager with emergency access configured, a sealed document with a solicitor, or a specified secure location. The instruction is durable; the credentials are not — see document vault.
Say what you want preserved
The instruction people forget, and it matters more than access.
Access is not the same as intent. Someone who can open your email does not know whether you wanted it read, archived, or deleted.
Worth stating explicitly: which accounts should be closed, which content should be preserved and given to whom, which should be deleted unread, and whether social profiles should be memorialised or removed.
Photographs deserve particular attention because they are what families most want and most frequently lose. A cloud archive nobody can open is a common and avoidable loss — keeping a copy somewhere accessible outside a single account is worth doing while you are alive — see photo backup strategy.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the executor can access accounts. Frequently they cannot.
- Passwords in the will. Becomes public, and goes stale.
- Not configuring legacy contacts. The mechanism that actually works.
- No instruction about what to preserve or delete. Access without intent.
- Photographs only in one cloud account. Commonly lost.
- Not telling anyone the plan exists. Unfindable.
- Never revisiting it. Accounts and relationships change.
FAQ
Does a will cover digital accounts?
It can express intent, and provider terms and available mechanisms determine what is actually possible. Configuring provider tools matters more than the wording.
What about a business account?
Business accounts should be handled through business succession arrangements rather than personal estate planning, and access should not depend on one individual regardless.
How do I handle cryptocurrency?
Self-custodied assets are lost permanently without the keys, and there is no provider to appeal to. This requires deliberate arrangements more than any other category.
Should I write instructions for each account?
A single document listing accounts, what should happen to each, and where access information lives is sufficient and far more likely to stay current than per-account instructions.
Where to go next
For where the instructions should live, read document vault. For the financial accounts that pass by designation, beneficiary audit, and for the medical decisions side, advance directive.
This is general information, not legal advice. Digital asset law varies by jurisdiction; consult a qualified professional.