Access to Important Information Upon Death

#1

I’m aware of services like deadmansswitch.net that email specified people if you don’t show activity within a certain amount of time. However, I’m interested in the system below. Does something like this already exist?

  1. I create a simple text document, which is then encrypted and saved by the service.
  2. I provide a list of trusted people.
  3. I specify how many people from that list are required to authenticate themselves before the document is decrypted and viewable to those on the list. (I can specify any number from one to all.)
  4. I receive an email when the document is accessed.

Thanks,
Dave

btw, MPU #269 (Emergency Preparedness for Geeks) covers related information, but doesn’t mention anything like this.

#2

Yes, it’s called an estate lawyer.

4 Likes
#3

I have a note called End Notes that I share via Apple Notes and Evernote to my family. It has a copy of my will attached and a list of “things to do, people to call.” It also has the critical log-ins for things like banking, credit cards, etc.

We recently saw how important this was in the sudden death of my father-in-law. Getting access to online log-ins, etc. was very hard and took a lot of time for his wife.

I have a similar note at worked called my “hit by a bus” note. It tells staff where they can find the documents and projects I am working on.

#4

Keep everything in 1Password and put the password in a sealed envelope with an estate lawyer with instructions wo to contact if assistance is needed using the information stored in the database.

#5

I don’t have a lawyer (yet), but I have a safe deposit box my wife also has access to, and that can be drilled if necessary by an executor with a death certificate. My wife and I also share some critical logins in a Bitwarden account and there is a findable document that explains how to gain access to those things.