How to handle your digital accounts

Your digital life is real life. Email, banking, photos, subscriptions, social media... all of it needs a plan, because none of it will sort itself out when you're gone.

Start by listing the accounts that matter: email, financial, cloud storage, social, and any services with auto-renewals. For each, note the username and how someone would get in — ideally through a password manager's emergency-access feature rather than a sticky note.

Decide what should happen to each: some accounts you'll want closed, some memorialized, some handed to a specific person. Most platforms now have a process for this, but only if someone knows to ask.

Write down the instructions and store them somewhere a trusted person can reach after you're gone — not in the same account they'd need to unlock to find them. Here are some digital accounts for which you may want to consider documenting your wishes:

Email Accounts

• Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo: State whether to download archives, notify contacts, or delete the account using tools like the Google Inactive Account Manager.

Social Media

• Facebook, Instagram, or X (Twitter): Specify whether profiles should be permanently deleted or converted into a memorialized state.
• LinkedIn: Instruct your fiduciary to deactivate the profile or post a final legacy update for professional connections.

Cloud Storage & Photos

• Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox: Designate who receives family photo libraries, personal documents, or videos, and what should be wiped for privacy.

Financial & Payment Portals

• Online Banking and Brokerage: List institution names for administrative tracking and closing, without putting raw passwords directly in the public will.
• PayPal, Venmo, or CashApp: Detail instructions for withdrawing remaining balances, settling pending transactions, and closing the profiles.

Cryptocurrency & Wallets

• Exchanges and Hardware Wallets: Note the platform names or physical device locations, leaving recovery keys in a secure password manager rather than the will text.

Subscription Services

• Streaming and Memberships: List services like Netflix, Spotify, or gym memberships to cancel recurring monthly charges.

Retail & Commercial Accounts

• Amazon, eBay, or iTunes: Provide instructions to redeem or forfeit store credits, gift cards, and loyalty miles, or close seller storefronts.

Domains & Blogs

• Hosting Services and Personal Sites: Direct whether to renew domain registrations, archive blog content, or shut down hosting plans.

Deathbedding.com lets you keep these notes privately and choose exactly who can see them and when. Treat your digital accounts like the rest of your estate: organized, intentional, and findable.