What do you want people to have NOW? Why wait until death to share the things you want to share? For example, you may want to allow users to access photos and videos. You can also share important documents that are actively used (health records, children’s vaccination records, pet health records) with one or two trusted people.
The best cloud storage services allow you to share files and folders securely. Keeping documents in cloud storage also means they are backed up, so copies of your documents are safe in the event of fire, flood, theft, or local data loss.
What do you want someone you trust to have quick and easy access to if you become incapacitated or die suddenly? One of my fears is that I will be hospitalized and no one will remember that I prepared and signed advance health care directives. If you don’t have an attorney holding your important documents (and maybe even if you do), make sure at least two people can quickly and easily access their digital copies.
Just like other important documents, you can share these files securely via cloud storage, but place them in a clearly labeled folder, such as _IMPORTANT FILES. Using an underscore ensures that the folder appears at the top of the list when files are sorted alphabetically. Since these documents contain sensitive information, be sure to check the security settings when you enable sharing so that only your trusted people can access them.
Examples of documents to include are your will, your power of attorney form, your advance health directives, your deeds and titles, your certificates (birth, marriage, divorce), and your identity papers (social security cards, naturalization papers).
What do you want people to have after you die? Maybe you don’t want your sibling or spouse to have the keys to your email or Instagram account now, but do you want them to post on your behalf after you die? Do you want them to permanently delete all accounts once you leave?
