If you think a Power of Attorney or death certificate is enough for you to be able to access someone’s Apple, Facebook or Google accounts, you are a very practical person. Bless your heart. It seems correct, but it is completely wrong in terms of how it actually works. That’s why it’s incredibly important to set up recovery and trusted contact persons.  

So much of our lives – family pictures, videos, important family information and history – are now stored on our devices or in the cloud. Can you imagine your kids not having access to their childhood photos and videos? Let alone the access you might need to give someone to figure out what assets and debts there might be if you are incapacitated or for an estate. How many paper statements are you getting these days for bank accounts, credit cards, stocks, retirement? EXACTLY! So take a few small steps to set these important tools up.   

Providing a key to a password vault is really important, because passwords change so frequently. I also urge you to leave a master key with your documents that is easily accessible, as well, so you have a couple fail safes in our modern world. You want people to be able to access certain information and tailor that information, too. Some of these work a little easier and better than others, but all are important. And if you have parents who are aging, I encourage you to help them set this up. I did it for my Mom.

Apple:

Set someone as your recovery contact and legacy contact. For the legacy contact they will need the key that is generated when you set it, which I would recommend printing out and putting with your important documents. You might ALSO consider setting that person as your recovery contact, so that they can get a code to get into your device.

Setting a Google Inactive Account Manager:

In Google, you can set someone to have access and be notified if your account is inactive for a certain period of time. You can add up to 10 people with up to three months access to your account. Google will notify you before your account goes inactive so you can log in, and you can customize the time period of inactivity. 

Facebook:

Facebook has “memorialization” settings so you can choose if someone can keep your page there as a memorial or delete, or a trusted contact can make that decision. There is also an additional step to allow someone to download your Facebook data, which you might want if you have stored pictures and videos of your family on your Facebook account. Note: they will not be able to post as you though.

These are all small steps you can take to be prepared for the unexpected. They can make a big difference in your life, and the life of your loved ones. Think about it.

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