Jill Concannon’s father was intelligent, funny, and quite clever, she later found out. She thought he had planned well for the inevitable — he had a will and a binder with passwords. When he died unexpectedly of a heart attack, she learned through tears and frustration that he wasn’t as organized as she thought.
“We had a lot of financial detective work to do. Plus email, his Facebook page, the online subscriptions — you have to figure out how to get into all of those,” Concannon said.
Her father didn’t want his binder of passwords to fall into the wrong hands so he randomly put asterisks in the usernames and passwords. It made sense to him, but not his family. When her mom didn’t know how to get into his computer or access their money, fear and stress were layered over tremendous sadness.
“There was so much to do. It took away from my ability to grieve. It was probably nine months before I really could breathe and do what I needed to do to take care of myself,” Concannon said.
She would have rather spent time supporting her mother, her family, and herself, rather than trying to crack the code of her father’s digital life. “We didn’t get to go through the process the way we needed to.”
A digital legacy includes everything online or in your computer, phone, and other devices. It is photos, bills, subscriptions, financial accounts, social media, and more. The average person has more than 100 open accounts, according to Dylan Doyle-Burke, research director of the Digital Legacy Clinic at the University of Colorado.
To plan your digital legacy, Doyle-Burke suggests starting with a conversation with loved ones about what’s important to you and them. Ask if someone is willing to manage your digital legacy when you pass. It may be uncomfortable, but it eases pain later. “There is an emotional and logistical burden when those wishes aren’t known,” he said. “Even if the decision is, ‘I don’t care,’ just make the best decision.”
Take inventory of your digital life and put passwords in one place; you may want to consider using password management software. Keywords like memorialization, legacy contact, and digital legacy can help you research the subject yourself. If you want expert help, there are paid services online. Or contact CU’s Digital Legacy Clinic, which helps people for free with everything except financial accounts.
Concannon knows how valuable it is to plan ahead. “It’s a gift to give to your family.”
Patricia Logan is a Colorado writer and filmmaker who loves to learn and share stories about this precious Earth and its fascinating people and places.
