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password managers guide

If You Die, the Vault Should Not Die With the Phone

Sam OkonkwoSam Okonkwo· Security Researcher· Updated November 15, 2024· 10 min read

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Quick take

Families lose houses in inboxes because nobody can open the vault. Use the vendor's emergency / inheritance feature, a lawyer letter for the rest, and a delay so a roommate cannot grab it tonight. 1Password currently documents emergency access. GUIDEORA is not an estate attorney.

The phone biometric dies with you

Face ID is not an estate plan. Someone still has to request access in a way the vendor designed. A paper master password in a safe is valid and ugly.

Do not put the master password in the will that gets emailed around. Do put the existence of the vault and the vendor name in instructions an executor can find.

From the record

A delay is how you love someone without handing a roommate the bank tonight.

GUIDEORA rule for vault inheritance

What to actually set

Pick a person. Set a waiting period. Store recovery kits offline. Keep a hardware key spare in the same safe as the deed copies if you use keys.

Emergency access instructions next to a password vault
A person you named. A delay you set. Not a sticky note.

Named person

Required

Delay

Anti-roommate

Sticky note

A leak

Will

Still needed

  • Work vaults may be unsurrenderable. Separate personal.
  • A shared family vault is not the same as emergency access.
  • Update the contact after a breakup. This is the password version of location sharing.
  • We are not telling you how to transfer money. That is a lawyer.

1Password's emergency-access shaped tools

1Password currently offers emergency or recovery-contact style features depending on plan. That is why it is the example: a designed path beats a sticky note. Confirm the live plan — personal vs family SKUs differ.

Delays and eligible contacts are live facts. Read them before you need them.

Pros

  • +A designed path beats folklore
  • +Delays reduce theft-by-roommate
  • +1Password currently documents this as a real control

Cons

  • −People never tell the contact
  • −Vendors can still lock a dispute
  • −A will is still a will

Name someone while you can still type

Set emergency access. Tell them. 1Password is the example. GUIDEORA does not probate accounts.

Editor take

A setting, not a séance

Use vendor emergency access plus offline recovery. 1Password is the example. Confirm live. Not legal advice.

See 1Password's current plan