Password managers and the emergency access problem

The problem is straightforward. Your family will need access to your accounts. Sharing passwords while you are alive is a security risk and a maintenance burden. Writing them down creates a document that is either insecure or inaccessible.

The mechanism that solves this exists, is widely available, and takes an evening to set up.

How emergency access works

Most established password managers offer some form of emergency access or digital legacy feature. The implementations differ and the pattern is generally:

You nominate a trusted contact, who must also have an account with the same service.

You set a waiting period — typically anywhere from immediate to several weeks.

If they request access, you receive a notification. If you do nothing within the waiting period, access is granted. If you decline, it is not.

The waiting period is the safeguard. If you are alive and the request was mistaken or malicious, you decline it. If you are dead or incapacitated, the clock runs out and access is granted.

Set the waiting period thoughtfully. Too short and a compromised contact gets in quickly. Too long and your family waits weeks during a period when they need to be dealing with practicalities. Somewhere in the region of a week to a fortnight is a common compromise.

Setting it up properly

Choose the contact carefully. This person will have access to everything — financial accounts, email, private correspondence. Choose on trustworthiness rather than on closeness.

Tell them. Emergency access is useless if the nominated person does not know they have it, does not have an account with the service, or does not know how to request it.

Write down what they need to do, in plain language, and put it with your will or wherever your executor will look.

Nominate more than one where the service permits it.

Keep the vault current. A password manager only helps if the accounts are actually in it. Add them as you go.

What to include in the vault beyond passwords

Most password managers allow secure notes, and this is where the useful material goes.

A list of financial institutions and account types. Insurance policies. The name and contact details of your solicitor, accountant and financial adviser. Where the will is. Location of important physical documents. Details of any safe deposit box. Subscription services and how to cancel them. Anything with an ongoing payment.

Two-factor authentication recovery codes, which are the item most likely to block access even when someone has the password. Many services generate one-time backup codes; store them.

Notes about what you want done with particular accounts.

The two-factor problem

Worth its own section, because it is the practical obstacle that most often defeats families.

Two-factor authentication is good security and it means that a password alone is insufficient. If the second factor is a code sent to your phone, and your phone is locked and your number has been disconnected, the account may be unrecoverable.

Mitigations: store backup codes in the password manager. Consider whether your executor will have access to your phone and whether they know the PIN. Note which accounts use which second factor.

Authenticator apps are more secure than text messages and harder to recover from if the device is lost, which is a real trade-off in this context. Some authenticator apps support encrypted backup, which addresses it.

The master password

Everything reduces to one credential, which means it must be recorded somewhere your executor can reach.

Options include a sealed envelope with your will, a safe with a combination your executor knows, a solicitor holding a sealed document, or splitting it between two trusted people.

What not to do: email it to yourself, keep it in a file on your computer, or write it on a note in your wallet.

The alternative for people who will not use a password manager

Some people will not adopt one and there is no point in advice nobody follows.

The fallback is a written document, kept somewhere secure, listing accounts and credentials, updated periodically. It is worse — insecure if found, out of date within months — and it is considerably better than nothing.

If you do this: keep it in a locked place, tell one person where it is, put a date on it, and update it at least annually.

Do not put passwords in your will

In many jurisdictions a will becomes a public document after probate. Anything in it, including credentials, may become publicly accessible.

Refer to the existence of a separate document and where it can be found, rather than including the contents.

The security point

Everything above increases the number of ways your accounts can be accessed, which by definition reduces security.

That is a deliberate trade, and it is the right one for most people. The realistic risk of a trusted family member abusing emergency access is lower than the realistic cost of a family being locked out of everything at the worst time.

Manage it by choosing the contact carefully, setting a sensible waiting period, and reviewing the arrangement when relationships change.

Legal rights of executors to access digital accounts vary by jurisdiction and by platform terms. Consult a qualified adviser about your specific situation.