Should You Leave Your Passwords to Someone?

This is a genuine tradeoff, not a question with an obviously correct answer — leaving your passwords with someone makes things considerably easier for your family, but it also means real ongoing access to your accounts while you’re still alive.

What’s the biggest downside of not sharing passwords at all?

Without passwords, your family may face significant difficulty accessing accounts that matter - email, financial accounts, cloud photo storage - sometimes involving lengthy formal request processes with individual platforms, and in some cases, permanent loss of access to content with genuine financial or sentimental value. This isn’t a hypothetical risk; it’s a common, documented source of frustration for families settling an estate.

What’s the biggest downside of simply sharing passwords now?

Sharing passwords now means someone else has live access to sensitive accounts for however many years pass before that access is actually needed - email, banking, social media, potentially years of private correspondence. This is a legitimate concern most people are understandably hesitant about, and it’s worth taking seriously rather than dismissing.

What is emergency access in a password manager?

Many password managers offer a specific feature designed for exactly this tension: a designated trusted contact can request access, which is only granted after a waiting period - giving you the chance to deny the request if you’re still alive and simply didn’t respond quickly. This offers meaningful protection for your family’s future access without requiring you to share live credentials in the meantime.

Is there a way to share passwords securely without ongoing access?

For those who prefer not to use a password manager’s emergency access feature, writing passwords down and storing them securely - in a safe, a sealed envelope held by a trusted person, or a dedicated section of a Final Day Plan - achieves a similar result. The information sits completely inert and inaccessible until it’s actually needed, without granting any ongoing live access in the meantime.

Is there a universally correct answer here?

No. The right choice depends genuinely on your own comfort level, how much you trust the specific person being given access, and how much weight you place on your family’s future convenience versus your own current privacy. This is worth deciding deliberately, rather than avoiding the decision because it feels uncomfortable to think about directly.

For the legal side of access, see who can access a dead person’s online accounts.

This is general guidance - the right approach depends on your own specific circumstances and comfort level.