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What happens to your accounts when you die?
Most major platforms have a built-in legacy mechanism. Almost nobody sets them up. This page lists every one that exists, with the official setup link for each. Fifteen minutes, once — go down the list.
The big platforms
- GoogleInactive Account ManagerData access
The best legacy tool that exists. Pick an inactivity window (3–18 months), choose up to 10 trusted contacts, and decide exactly which data they can download — or have the whole account delete itself.
Official setup page - AppleLegacy ContactData access
Add a Legacy Contact in Settings → your name → Sign-In & Security. They get an access key now; after your death they use it plus a death certificate to request your iCloud data.
Official setup page - FacebookLegacy Contact & memorializationMemorial
Choose a legacy contact who can manage your memorialized profile, or set the account to delete permanently after your death. Set it in Settings → Memorialization.
Official setup page - InstagramMemorialization on requestMemorial
No pre-set contact. After death, family submit proof and the account is memorialized or removed. The only planning you can do is tell someone it exists.
Official setup page - X (Twitter)Deactivation by request onlyClosure only
No legacy feature at all. Family or an estate executor can request deactivation with documentation — nobody gets access to the account or its DMs.
Official setup page - LinkedInMemorialize or closeMemorial
A verified family member or executor can request the profile be memorialized or closed ("Request to memorialize or close the account of a deceased member" in their help center). No pre-planning option.
Official setup page - MicrosoftNext-of-kin processClosure only
Outlook / OneDrive / Xbox: closure on request is straightforward, but data access for survivors generally requires a court order. If your files matter, get them out of OneDrive-only storage now.
Official setup page
Password managers — the master keys
One of these rows done properly replaces fifty account-by-account plans.
- 1PasswordEmergency KitData access
A printable PDF with your sign-in details and Secret Key. Print it, seal it, store it with your estate documents — whoever holds it holds every password you have.
Official setup page - BitwardenEmergency AccessData access
On paid plans, a trusted contact can request access to your vault; if you don't veto within your chosen wait period, they get in. Built precisely for this.
Official setup page - LastPassEmergency AccessData access
Same pattern: designate a contact, set a wait period, they can take over the vault if you can't respond.
Official setup page
Money
- Banks & brokeragesPOD / TOD beneficiariesTransfer
Payable-on-death (bank) and transfer-on-death (brokerage) designations pass accounts directly to a named person, skipping probate. Free, takes minutes — call your bank and ask.
Ask your bank — every institution has its own form - PayPal / VenmoEstate closureClosure only
An executor closes the account and claims the balance with documentation. No beneficiary designation exists — money sitting there is money in probate.
Official setup page - Self-custody cryptoNone — keys are everythingNo mechanism
No platform, no process, no appeal. If nobody can find your seed phrase, the funds are gone permanently. Your inheritance plan is a written key-handoff plan stored somewhere a survivor will actually look.
No official mechanism exists
Your email account is the skeleton key
Nearly every password reset on the internet routes through your inbox. If your email has no legacy plan, most of the rows above stop mattering — whoever handles your estate will be locked out of everything at once. Google and Microsoft are the two rows worth doing first.
The row no platform covers
Everything above transfers data or closes accounts. None of it says anything. The words you'd want the people you love to actually read — where things are, what to do, what they meant to you — don't live in any platform's legacy settings. That row you have to fill yourself.
Countdown Trigger delivers a message you write, only if you stop checking in. Write it, send a test to yourself right now, and arm a monthly check-in on the Free plan.