Heritkey

Should you put your passwords in your will?

· 6 min read

When people start planning what happens to their online accounts, the will seems like the obvious place for the passwords. Lawyers almost all say the same thing: don't. Here's why, what your will should say about your digital life instead, and where the passwords themselves should live. Keeping them safe until they're needed is what Heritkey is built for.

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Reason 1: a will can become public

A will is private while you're alive, but that can change after your death:

Anything written in the will, passwords included, could be read by people you'd never have chosen.

Reason 2: passwords change, wills don't

You'll probably change dozens of passwords before your will is ever read. Updating a will means a new will or a formal amendment, signed and witnessed. Passwords written into a will are almost certainly out of date by the time anyone needs them.

Reason 3: the will is read too late

Your family may need access within days: to find documents, stop subscriptions or let people know what has happened. A will is often read after the funeral, and probate can take months.

Reason 4: a password isn't permission

Logging in as someone else can break a service's terms, even with the right password. In most US states, a law called the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) sets out who can access a person's accounts after death, in a clear order of priority:

  1. Settings you made with a company's own tool, such as Google's Inactive Account Manager or Facebook's legacy contact, come first.
  2. Instructions in your will or another document come next.
  3. The service's terms of service apply if you left no instructions.

In other words, a setting you chose in an app can override what your will says. Make sure the two agree.

What your will can say instead

Where to keep the passwords

Whatever you choose, think about two-factor authentication too: if the codes go to your phone, someone needs a way to unlock it, or a set of backup codes.

The zero-knowledge alternative: why we're building Heritkey

Heritkey is built to be the place your will can point to. Your passwords, two-factor backup codes, documents and wishes sit in an end-to-end encrypted vault that you can update in minutes, without a lawyer. Your heirs request access when they need it, and the vault opens if you don't refuse within the waiting period you chose, without waiting for the will to be read. Nobody else can read it, not even us. See how Heritkey works.

Lock in the $3.99/month early-access price →Or $74.99 once for life. Your heirs never pay. Waitlist members keep the launch price.

A simple plan

  1. List your important accounts and what should happen to each.
  2. Set up the platform tools for Apple and Google.
  3. Keep passwords in a password manager or encrypted vault with emergency access.
  4. Ask your lawyer to add a digital assets clause to your will, including consent to access your messages.
  5. Review everything once a year.

Our digital estate planning checklist walks through it step by step.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws on wills and digital assets differ between countries and states, so check with a lawyer where you live.

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