Prepare now

The universal starting sequence — what everyone should do regardless of which platforms they use. For a version ordered around your accounts, use the Checklist Builder.

1. Choose your digital executor. One trusted person, told plainly: "if something happens, this is where the plan lives."
2. Write the one-page inventory. Account names only — never passwords on this page.
3. Sort out access. A password manager with emergency access, or a sealed note with your solicitor.
4. Set the two big platform switches. Google Inactive Account Manager and Apple Legacy Contact cover most people's photos and email.
5. Decide about social media. Memorial or deletion — either is kind; silence is neither.
6. List recurring payments. Subscriptions are the most common posthumous mess and the easiest to prevent.
7. Put a yearly review in the calendar. Fifteen minutes every January keeps it all true.