Updated September 2026

by Thomas C. Walser, Estate Planning Attorney (40+ Years of Experience)

Most people think estate planning begins and ends with a will or trust. But after someone dies, families often discover another problem: they don't know where anything is.

Passwords, bank accounts, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, automatic payments, cryptocurrency, and even important digital files can be difficult to locate or access after death.

A well-prepared estate plan should do more than explain who inherits your property. It should also make it easier for the people you trust to identify your assets and handle important financial and digital matters when you're no longer able to help them.

At Walser Law Firm, we've spent more than 40 years helping Florida families prepare for the future. Here are seven things your loved ones may struggle to find or access after your death—and steps you can take now to make things easier.

1. Your Passwords Aren't in Your Will — and They Shouldn't Be

Your will is not the right place to list passwords.

A will may eventually become part of a probate court proceeding, and passwords also change frequently. Instead, consider maintaining a separate, secure record of important account information.

This might include access information for:

• Email accounts
• Online banking
• Investment accounts
• Cloud storage
• Social media
• Subscription services
• Cryptocurrency accounts
• Utility accounts

The goal isn't simply to create a list of passwords. It's to make sure the appropriate person knows where important information is stored and how it can be legally accessed when necessary.

2. Life Insurance Policies Can Be Difficult to Locate

Your family cannot easily make a claim on a life insurance policy they don't know exists.

Keep an organized record of your:

• Life insurance company
• Policy information
• Agent or advisor
• Named beneficiaries
• Employer-provided life insurance

You should also periodically review your beneficiary designations, particularly after marriage, divorce, a birth, a death in the family, or another major life change.

Remember that beneficiary designations can determine who receives certain assets regardless of what your will says.

3. Bank, Investment, and Retirement Accounts Can Be Overlooked

Over a lifetime, it's easy to accumulate accounts at different financial institutions.

Your family may know about your primary checking account but have no idea about an old:

• Savings account
• Brokerage account
• IRA
• 401(k)
• Pension
• Certificate of deposit
• Investment account

Creating an updated financial inventory can make identifying your assets significantly easier.

That inventory does not necessarily need to contain every account password. Instead, it can identify what accounts exist and where they are held.

4. Email, Social Media, Cryptocurrency, and Other Digital Assets Can Become Difficult to Access

Estate planning in 2026 involves much more than physical property.

Many people now have valuable or important digital assets, including:

• Email accounts
• Social media profiles
• Digital photographs
• Cloud storage
• Cryptocurrency
• Online businesses
• Websites and domain names
• Digital financial accounts

Florida has a Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which establishes rules governing when fiduciaries such as Personal Representatives, trustees, and agents may obtain access to certain digital assets. Access is not necessarily the same as simply knowing someone's password, and the applicable account settings, estate-planning documents, terms of service, and federal law can matter. Online Sunshine

Florida law also allows a person to give directions concerning disclosure of digital assets through certain online tools or estate-planning documents. In some circumstances, a direction made through an online tool can override a conflicting direction in a will, trust, or power of attorney. Online Sunshine

This is why digital assets should be considered as part of a modern estate plan.

5. Automatic Payments Can Continue After Death

Many bills are now paid automatically.

That can include:

• Streaming subscriptions
• Gym memberships
• Phone bills
• Utilities
• Insurance premiums
• Credit cards
• Storage services
• Software subscriptions
• Membership fees

If your family doesn't know which payments are connected to your accounts, recurring charges may continue while your estate is being administered.

Keeping an updated list of recurring bills and subscriptions can make it easier for the appropriate person to identify which expenses should continue and which accounts may need to be addressed.

Importantly, family members should not simply begin accessing or closing accounts without determining that they have the appropriate authority to do so.

6. Your Will Won't Unlock Your Phone

Your smartphone may contain an enormous amount of information about your financial life.

It might provide access to:

• Banking apps
• Emails
• Two-factor authentication
• Digital wallets
• Photographs
• Contacts
• Financial records
• Password-management tools

But being named in someone's will does not automatically give a beneficiary unrestricted access to every digital account.

Florida law establishes procedures for fiduciary access to digital assets. For example, a Personal Representative seeking certain digital assets of a deceased user may need to provide the account custodian with a written request, death certificate, and documentation establishing the representative's legal authority. Online Sunshine

Planning for digital access before it becomes an emergency can save your family considerable frustration.

7. Your Family Should Be Grieving — Not Searching for Everything You Left Behind

This may be the most important point.

After a death, family members already have enough to handle. They shouldn't also have to search through drawers, emails, filing cabinets, and old statements trying to determine:

Where is the will?

Is there life insurance?

Which bank holds the accounts?

Who is the financial advisor?

Are there retirement accounts?

What bills are automatically being paid?

Where are the important digital records?

Creating an organized estate information file can make the process significantly easier for the people you leave behind.

What Should You Keep in an Estate Information File?

Consider maintaining an organized and secure record identifying important information such as:

• Estate planning documents
• Attorney contact information
• Bank and investment accounts
• Retirement accounts
• Life insurance policies
• Real estate
• Mortgages and other debts
• Recurring bills
• Business interests
• Digital assets
• Important online accounts
• Location of important physical documents
• Contact information for financial and tax professionals

The information should be kept secure and periodically updated.

Most importantly, make sure the appropriate trusted person knows that the information exists and where to find it.

Should You Put Passwords in Your Will?

Generally, a will is not an appropriate place to maintain passwords.

Besides the privacy concern, passwords and account information can change much more frequently than an estate plan.

Instead, consider keeping sensitive login information through an appropriately secured method while using your estate-planning documents to address legal authority over digital assets when appropriate.

Florida's digital-assets law specifically recognizes directions concerning digital assets through wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and qualifying online tools. Online Sunshine

Don't Forget to Update Your Beneficiaries

Organizing your accounts is only part of the process.

You should also periodically review the beneficiaries named on assets such as:

• Life insurance
• IRAs
• 401(k)s
• Annuities
• Certain financial accounts

An outdated beneficiary designation can create a very different result from what you intended.

Your estate plan, account ownership, beneficiary designations, and digital-asset instructions should work together, rather than contradicting one another.

A Modern Estate Plan Is More Than a Will

A comprehensive estate plan may include documents and planning strategies such as:

• Last Will & Testament
• Revocable Living Trust
• Durable Power of Attorney
• Health Care Surrogate Designation
• Living Will
• Beneficiary designations
• Proper asset titling
• Digital asset planning
• An organized record of important financial information

The goal isn't simply to prepare for death. It's to make things easier for the people you trust if you become incapacitated or after you're gone.



Frequently Asked Questions:

Should I give my family all of my passwords?

Not necessarily. Sensitive information should be stored securely. The better approach is to create an organized system and make sure the appropriate trusted person knows where important information is located and has the proper legal authority when access is needed.

Can my Personal Representative access my online accounts?

Florida law provides mechanisms through which a Personal Representative may obtain certain digital assets, but access depends on the type of information, the user's directions, applicable law, and other requirements. Online Sunshine

Should cryptocurrency be included in an estate plan?

Cryptocurrency and information needed to identify and appropriately access it should be considered when planning an estate. Because losing access credentials or keys can create unique problems, careful planning is especially important.

Should I list all of my accounts for my family?

Maintaining a secure inventory of your financial institutions, insurance policies, retirement accounts, digital assets, and other important property can make it much easier for the appropriate person to identify your assets after death.

How often should I update this information?

Reviewing it periodically and after major changes—such as opening or closing accounts, changing insurance, moving, marrying, divorcing, or significantly changing your estate plan—can help keep the information useful.

Why Families Choose Walser Law Firm

Estate planning isn't only about deciding who receives your property. It's also about creating a plan that makes things easier for the people you leave behind.

For more than 40 years, Walser Law Firm has helped Florida families prepare comprehensive estate plans and navigate probate.

Led by Thomas C. Walser, a former CPA with a Master's Degree in Estate Planning, our firm helps clients coordinate wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, probate planning, and other important aspects of their estates.

Whether you're creating your first estate plan or updating an existing one, our team can help make sure your plan reflects both your assets and your family's needs.

Contact Walser Law Firm today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Florida estate planning attorney.