One day you'll need your parents' passwords. Will you have them?
When a parent is hospitalized — or worse — the clock starts immediately. Bills auto-pay from accounts you can't access. Subscription charges pile up on credit cards you don't have. Family photos sit locked behind an Apple ID nobody knows. Two-factor authentication codes go to a phone with a PIN you've never seen.
Americans over 60 have an average of 160 online accounts. Most of their children can't name ten.
You've thought about having "the conversation." You've told yourself you'll get organized this weekend. But the task feels enormous — 50 accounts, a dozen devices, passwords scrawled on sticky notes — and where do you even start?
You start here.
The Digital Legacy Kit is a printable guide and worksheet system that walks you through organizing your parents' entire digital life — passwords, accounts, devices, and wishes — in a single weekend. No software subscriptions. No legal jargon. Just a clear checklist and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you won't be locked out when it matters most.
What's Inside the Guide
- The Digital Asset Inventory — a structured worksheet to catalog every account, login, and device your parents use, organized by category (financial, medical, social, subscriptions, devices)
- The Emergency Access Sheet — a single-page, large-print summary of the most critical accounts and contacts, designed to be stored securely and grabbed in a crisis
- The Password Organization System — a step-by-step method for collecting, organizing, and securely storing passwords using the "split knowledge" approach (no single document contains everything a thief needs)
- The 2FA & Device Access Guide — how to document PINs, recovery codes, and backup keys so two-factor authentication doesn't become a permanent lockout
- Platform Legacy Guides — step-by-step instructions for setting up Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Legacy Contact, and Facebook Legacy Contact so accounts transfer properly
- The Conversation Starter Kit — five tested scripts for bringing up digital organization with a reluctant parent, framed around safety and protection rather than death
- The Digital Wishes Document — a template for your parents to record what they want done with each account: keep, memorialize, delete, or transfer
- The Subscription Tracker — a checklist for identifying and canceling recurring charges, so nothing slips through during a crisis
- Regional Legal Quick Reference — key differences in digital asset laws for the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is for you — the adult son or daughter who serves as your parents' unofficial IT department.
You might recognize yourself in one of these situations:
- Your parent called in a panic because they "clicked something," and you spent two hours on the phone resetting passwords
- You've realized you couldn't access your parents' bank account, email, or phone if something happened tomorrow
- A friend or coworker went through the nightmare of trying to untangle a deceased parent's digital life, and you swore you wouldn't let that happen to your family
- Your parent has passwords on sticky notes, reuses the same password everywhere, or can't remember their Apple ID
- You've looked at password managers but know your parent would never adopt one
The Digital Legacy Kit works because it doesn't ask your parents to change how they live. It meets them where they are — paper, pen, and a conversation — while creating the organized system you'll need when the time comes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this legal advice? No. The Digital Legacy Kit is an organizational tool, not a legal document. It helps you inventory and document digital assets so that your family's legal documents (wills, powers of attorney) can actually be executed. We include a legal quick-reference covering the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but we always recommend consulting an estate attorney for binding legal decisions.
Can't I just use a password manager? Password managers are excellent tools — and we recommend using one. But a password manager doesn't explain how to handle two-factor authentication when the phone is locked, how to set up platform legacy contacts, what your parent's wishes are for their social media accounts, or how to have the conversation in the first place. The Digital Legacy Kit works alongside a password manager to cover everything software can't.
What countries does this cover? The guide is written for English-speaking families in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Account setup instructions (Google, Apple, Facebook) are universal, but the legal quick-reference section covers the specific digital asset laws and reporting contacts for each of these five regions.
How long does it take to complete? Most families complete the core inventory in 2-4 hours — a single afternoon or weekend session. The platform legacy setups (Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Legacy Contact) add another 30-60 minutes. You don't need to do it all at once; the checklist is designed so you can work through it in stages.
What if my parent won't cooperate? This is the most common challenge, and it's why we included five conversation scripts. The most effective approach is the "Tech Support Trojan Horse" — offer to help with a real tech problem (resetting a password, cleaning up their email) and use that as a natural opening to organize everything while you're at it. The guide walks you through each approach step by step.
My parent has dementia / cognitive decline. Is this still useful? Yes — in fact, it's even more urgent. If your parent can still participate, the guide helps you work together to document everything while they can still remember. If they can no longer participate, the inventory checklists help you systematically uncover accounts you may not know about by checking browser history, email inboxes, bank statements, and mail.
Organize Their Digital Life This Weekend
Every month you wait is another month of forgotten passwords, abandoned accounts, and growing risk.
Get the Digital Legacy Kit — $14
One-time purchase. Instant PDF download. Everything you need to organize your parents' digital life in one weekend.
30-day money-back guarantee. If the guide doesn't give you peace of mind, you get a full refund — no questions asked.