Who has your “passwords” if you forget? The FBI? Tim Cook, the President of Apple?
Accessing a terrorist’s phone requires a “password” and law enforcement agents do not have it. This has been all over the news for weeks. What about your “passwords.” Who has access to them?
I have a list of 146 “passwords” stored in my computer, and it takes a “password” to access that list. In addition, I know I am missing some that I failed to take the time to add.
If I become forgetful, or incompetent or die, who will be able to access all those accounts, including pictures, bank statements and lots more that require “passwords”?
At a minimum an Estate Plan needs to include information about “passwords.” One solution is to provide a list or let someone know where to find the list of “passwords.” When needed, the list is likely to be out of date, due to additions or changes made after the list is created. A second solution is to have a signed document that gives some one else the authority to access your digital assets, including “passwords.”
If you are a terrorist, you may not want anyone to ever see your digital assets. Most of the rest of us want to make it easy for others to help when we are not able to help ourselves due to illness or accident. If you don’t already have it, add to your Estate Plan information about accessing your “passwords” and other digital assets.
