Use this as your first pass
This checklist is for the operational side of digital estate planning: accounts, files, passwords, recovery notes, and instructions. It is not a legal will and does not replace legal advice.
The goal is simple: make sure the right people can find what matters and understand what to do next.
You do not need to finish everything in one sitting. Start with the accounts and documents that would create the most confusion if you were suddenly unreachable. Then add detail over time as you notice missing recovery paths, outdated phone numbers, forgotten subscriptions, or account groups that need a different trusted contact.
The checklist
- List your important online accounts. Start with email, banking, insurance, tax, cloud storage, subscriptions, domains, business tools, and crypto services.
- Document password manager and recovery access. Record the password manager name, master-password recovery path, and what someone should do first.
- Record two-factor authentication details. Note authenticator apps, hardware keys, backup codes, device dependencies, and recovery-code locations.
- Add important documents. Include identity, insurance, tax, business, property, and practical household files your people may need quickly.
- Document crypto recovery instructions. Note wallets, exchanges, seed phrase locations, passphrase requirements, and who can help without taking control.
- Choose trusted contacts. Decide who should receive which information and avoid giving everyone everything by default. Use the digital executor guide if you are not sure who fits the role.
- Write action instructions. Explain what should be closed, preserved, transferred, renewed, exported, or discussed with a professional.
- Choose a release process. Decide how the plan becomes available if you die, become incapacitated, or stop responding.
- Review the plan regularly. Update it when you change password managers, wallets, devices, important accounts, relationships, or business responsibilities.
What to prioritize first
If the checklist feels broad, prioritize recovery hubs before individual accounts. The main email address, mobile number, password manager, authenticator app, cloud account, and device passcodes often control everything else. If those are documented clearly, your family has a better chance of dealing with the rest in order.
Next, document accounts that create time pressure: insurance claims, tax portals, banking, domains, business software, payroll, client systems, crypto exchanges, and subscriptions that keep billing. Finally, add sentimental and archive material such as photos, letters, family files, and personal instructions.
What makes the checklist useful later?
A bare inventory is better than nothing, but instructions are what make the plan usable. Add short notes that explain why an account matters and what should happen to it. For example: export photos before closing a cloud account, call the accountant before changing a tax portal, do not move crypto before speaking to the named helper, or preserve a domain because it controls business email.
Use plain language. Your trusted contacts may read this during a hard week, and they may not share your technical vocabulary. The best instructions are calm, specific, and easy to follow.
Where this fits with a will
This checklist is not a substitute for a will, power of attorney, notary, lawyer, executor, or tax adviser. Formal documents can say who has authority. This checklist helps the right people understand what exists, where to start, and which practical steps should not be missed.
For many families, the legal and practical plans work together: the will handles formal decisions; the digital estate checklist handles passwords, account maps, files, contacts, and release instructions.
How Trustbourne helps
Trustbourne gives this checklist a release path. You store the files and instructions in an encrypted vault, add trusted contacts, respond to regular check-ins, and define what should be released if you stop responding after verification.
That means your checklist does not need to sit in an obvious folder or depend on someone finding the right notebook. You can decide which contacts receive which instructions and keep the plan updated as your accounts, devices, and responsibilities change.