Legacy Locker Insures Your Passwords in the Event of Your Death

Somewhat of a morbid post here, but I've been wondering how to ensure that my wife can access our bank accounts and so forth in the event of my death. I keep track of all that stuff, but she does not. Legacy Locker is a new site aims to distribute all that digital information in the event of your death, solving my problem, and I'm sure the problem of others.

It's a fairly simple problem, and one I am surprised hasn't been addressed before (perhaps it has). Until now I have supplied an encrypted Word document that tracks all my passwords and stored it in the cloud for my wife to use if something happens to me.

Think of it as a will. Legacy Locker allows users to input their login credentials to all the web services they access, which are then distributed to various family members or friends in the event of their death (the site also has a "living will" which will do the same in the event of your incapacitation). Users can select which information goes to which "beneficiary."

Upon the death of a member, family members simply call or email Legacy Locker. At least two survivors have to confirm your demise, and survivors will have to supply a death certificate, before all the information is "unlocked."

How to make sure your passwords are up to date? Well, the service will periodically try to log into your accounts. If it can't, perhaps because you've changed passwords, it alerts you to the issue.

I'd like to see how it handles some of the convoluted logins at financial institutions now, however, with those rotating challenge questions. I even have trouble getting Mint to work with all those.

Finally, you can set up your account to send out "farewell letters" to loved ones, or post items on sites such as Facebook, if you die.

Here's what the press release has to say:

Conceptually the site is similar to an electronic will, but specific to digital information rather than physical assets. Account holders add multiple assets and create as many beneficiaries as they like. Additionally, a user can create "Legacy Letters", the contents of which are automatically emailed to loved ones, friends, or colleagues when a death is reported.

"Legacy Locker fills a growing void in the Estate Planning industry," says Heather Stoneman, Esq., a leading Trusts & Estates attorney in San Francisco, CA. "As families implement wills and trusts to ensure the proper passing of their physical assets, there are virtually no provisions for estate planners to help their clients plan for the future of their digital assets. It is very difficult to convince Web-based companies to release account access to the family and loved ones of a deceased user."

But, oh no, it's not free. It's $29.99 annually or $299.99 for a lifetime subscription. According to the press release, however, the company's plan is to sell this service through estate planners.

Personally, I'd wait to see if the company itself survives or not before plunking down $300 for a lifetime sub. The service is set to go live in April.