Journal topic
Clear explanations of dead man's switches, digital estate planning and the laws and settings that decide what happens to your accounts.
8 guides
Explainers9 min read
A letter you leave for after your death is usually not legally binding and can't replace a will. Wills must meet formal rules that vary by place, such as signatures and witnesses. Handwritten wills are accepted in some places, so a letter that reads like one can cause disputes. Use a will for legal decisions and letters for love, memories and wishes.
Explainers9 min read
A dead man's switch is safe when a missed check-in can't send anything on its own. False triggers usually come from lost email access, spam filters, hospital stays, travel or a changed phone; layered reminders, a trusted verifier, a soft alert, a grace period and pause mode stop them, and letters written to be okay if they arrived early add a final layer.
Explainers8 min read
Google Inactive Account Manager lets you choose what happens to your Google account if it goes unused for 3 to 18 months: Google tries to reach you, then notifies up to 10 trusted contacts, can share the data you picked, sends an optional Gmail autoreply and can delete the account. It is free and worth setting up, but it sends one short message and data downloads, not personal letters.
Explainers8 min read
You can schedule an email in Gmail or Outlook for a date far in the future, but it sends on that date whether you are alive or not, so you must keep postponing it, and it never sends if the account is closed first. For messages meant only for after your death, a check-in based dead man's switch is more reliable.
Explainers10 min read
There are five realistic ways to send a message after you die: a scheduled email, Google Inactive Account Manager, a letter held by a solicitor or attorney, a trusted friend, or a dead man's switch service. Only a friend or a check-in switch is triggered by your absence rather than a fixed date, and the safest setups combine more than one.
Explainers8 min read
WhatsApp has no memorial setting or legacy contact. Chats are stored on the phone and in its iCloud or Google backup, not readable on WhatsApp's servers, and inactive accounts are generally deleted after about 120 days. So the phone, its passcode and the backup are what your family needs; anyone with the unlocked phone can export chats to keep.
Explainers8 min read
Digital estate planning means listing your online accounts, turning on each platform's legacy settings, recording what should happen to each account, and naming someone to carry it out. In most US states, RUFADAA gives a platform's own legacy tool priority over your will, and your will priority over the terms of service.
Explainers7 min read
A digital dead man's switch is a service that holds messages or documents and releases them to chosen people only if you stop responding to regular check-ins. A safe one uses layers, such as repeated reminders, a trusted verifier, a soft alert and a grace period, so that a missed check-in never sends anything by mistake.
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