Digital Inheritance

[Victoria Raverna]

So anyone here prepare or has a plan for digital inheritance.

If one day you drop dead, do you want to let your family have access to all your user accounts?

If so, how do you do that?

[Jeff V]

Make a list of user names and passwords I suppose? As far as actual "ownership" of any digital assets, you should first check the fine print and verify that you do, indeed, own transferable rights to the property and not just a license to use it across your devices.

Personally, I'd just let the electrons go their own separate ways. It would be nice for someone to cancel various things like FB so people aren't still wishing my putrid corpse "Happy birthday" long after I've become worm food. I can't imagine anyone being particularly thrilled to inherent my sizeable music collection; only a portion of which is online though (most exists in backed-up drives at home).

[gilraen]

I'd be more concerned about someone being able to access my bank and credit card accounts online (sure, they could track down actual accounts but these days all the information is much better accessible on the bank's website, especially if it's an online-only bank). I remember seeing something on TV about making sure to include logins and passwords with your will-related paperwork - obviously only a good idea if that paperwork is in a safe somewhere...

[Isgrimnur]

Which will be out of date with the news of the next data breach.

[Jeff V]

I'd be more concerned about someone being able to access my bank and credit card accounts online (sure, they could track down actual accounts but these days all the information is much better accessible on the bank's website, especially if it's an online-only bank). I remember seeing something on TV about making sure to include logins and passwords with your will-related paperwork - obviously only a good idea if that paperwork is in a safe somewhere...

And you have to remember to update it when you change passwords.

[Scuzz]

I have arranged for someone to pretend they are me on the forums and fantasy sites where I have a presence. So if someday I seem strange on here you will know why.

[Isgrimnur]

Is it JonathanStrange?

[dbt1949]

I have a list of sites and passwords to access online stuff on a sheet of paper plus instructions for paying the bills and so forth in case of my death.
Except this site's password is not on it. Nor is my Steam account. I'm taking them with me.

[LordMortis]

My Steam account should be transferable, dammit.

But yeah, it's a scary world with how fast someone can liquidate your assets.

When I went under for heart surgery last year, I left a not and a file on my desktop with all of my financial accounts and passwords for parents to find but I left no inheritance instructions.

[hepcat]

From my deathbed, I plan on crawling to my computer, changing my Steam and Vudu email addresses to ChaosRaven's, then resetting the password.

I just like to think about him having to explain to his family why he suddenly owns a copy of Barbie's Island Adventure, and a movie library that consists only of Golden Girls and Mama's Family episodes.

[MHS]

I have arranged for someone to pretend they are me on the forums and fantasy sites where I have a presence. So if someday I seem strange on here you will know why.

Someday?

[Sudy]

The entirety of OO is a simulation. You're the only human member.

[Remus West]

From my deathbed, I plan on crawling to my computer, changing my Steam and Vudu email addresses to ChaosRaven's, then resetting the password.

I just like to think about him having to explain to his family why he suddenly owns a copy of Barbie's Island Adventure, and a movie library that consists only of Golden Girls and Mama's Family episodes.

Not to ruin your plan but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't even make Mrs. CR blink twice.

[hepcat]

Having met Chaosfaerie more than once, I have to admit you're most likely correct. His kids are still scarred from our bathroom jokes at the last Octocon they attended.

...hmmm...they haven't shown up at one since. I wonder...

[gilraen]

I'd be more concerned about someone being able to access my bank and credit card accounts online (sure, they could track down actual accounts but these days all the information is much better accessible on the bank's website, especially if it's an online-only bank). I remember seeing something on TV about making sure to include logins and passwords with your will-related paperwork - obviously only a good idea if that paperwork is in a safe somewhere...

And you have to remember to update it when you change passwords.

That's very true, but even if you don't keep up with it, and the password doesn't work - at least your heirs will know that the account even exists. Knowing the username and possibly at that point having access to your email, they can retrieve the password. Or at the very least, they should be able (in theory) to contact the company, provide proper documentation (proof of death, executor power, etc.) and have the assets released to them.

[hepcat]

All joking aside, this is actually an interesting topic that I had never even considered. I have thousands of dollars in steam games and digital media. Do I want them to go to someone who would appreciate them after I die? Can I even pass them along by giving someone control of those accounts?

[Isgrimnur]

Steam 'Subscriptions' are non-transferable.

[stessier]

But also goes in the "how would they know" category. As long as you can log in with whatever method they use at that time, it should work fine.

[Scuzz]

I have arranged for someone to pretend they are me on the forums and fantasy sites where I have a presence. So if someday I seem strange on here you will know why.

Someday?

For that I am dropping you out of my will. I will give my Bobblehead collection to someone else.

[LordMortis]

Steam 'Subscriptions' are non-transferable.

As far as they know...

[MHS]

For that I am dropping you out of my will. I will give my Bobblehead collection to someone else.

Do we have a sad tuba emoji? I feel like I need one now.

[Victoria Raverna]

Steam 'Subscriptions' are non-transferable.

In theory, in actual practice, you can just give the username and password to anyone you want.

The same with most online accounts. Some of them allow you to transfer to others in case of you are no longer around, some don't. If we can arrange so that your family or kid get your list of username and password when you're no longer live in this world, they can access them.

[Daehawk]

When Im dead Im dead and so is any online accounts. Ill just disappear one day and never return.

[Victoria Raverna]

All joking aside, this is actually an interesting topic that I had never even considered. I have thousands of dollars in steam games and digital media. Do I want them to go to someone who would appreciate them after I die? Can I even pass them along by giving someone control of those accounts?

I used to be like you, but since I had a daughter (she is now only 2 and half years old), I started to have morbid thoughts. All the pain from growing old (or older) also added to those thoughts. I don't know if I'll live as long as my grandma which is now over 90 years old or her mother which lived to over 100 years old. Or I'll live to the age of my grandpa which passed away at 63. Or i'll live a short life since I started to have chest pains a few years ago.

Because of that I think i'll start to make preparation. All my non digital assets are easy, if I die, they'll go to my wife and daughter. But for the digital one, right now only I have access to all my accounts and some of them I want to pass to my wife or daughter if possible.

[Zarathud]

My wife or hepcat will post here when I die. Either one is the most likely cause of my demise, followed by the kids.

I have a folder with passwords in txt format for my wife to harvest. Not that she'll want them but my kids will want the steam account.

[hepcat]

I get your copy of blood rage. Just sayin'.

[GreenGoo]

Steam 'Subscriptions' are non-transferable.

There was talk not too long ago that Steam was looking at addressing this. Not following Steam news particularly closely, I have no idea whatever became of that.

[Moat_Man]

I call dibs on JetFred's steam account. His kids already have their own. What will they need his for?

[Isgrimnur]

I call dibs on JetFred's steam account. His kids already have their own. What will they need his for?

Guinness.

[gameoverman]

Just as a test, I asked a few people I know "Would you want..." and listed some of the digital things I could pass on to them. No one was the slightest bit interested. Not because of any unwillingness to talk about death either, it was an honest 'meh' response I got from everyone.

As far as I can tell, everyone has their things already. Whatever they're into, they have, they don't need or want anyone else's. Some things, like with music, it was "That's not my type, but thanks anyways". Other things, like games it was because I didn't have exactly what they wanted. "Do you have a PS4?"

So it looks like in my family no one is inheriting anything digital, but some people have agreed to scrub any data from others' devices ASAP when the time comes. I've helped clean up items after someone died, so I've seen what happens when someone discovers something about someone, something that they didn't want to know. Our digital age adds a whole new possible level to this sort of thing.