Don't Let Facebook Decide For You: Why Your Digital Legacy Needs A Plan
Most people have a will for their home, their savings, or their personal belongings.
But what about everything that exists online?
Your photos. Your email. Your social media accounts. Your cloud storage. Your online subscriptions. Your cryptocurrency. Your digital documents. In our modern world, we all have about 100 online accounts on average.
For many families, these digital assets become an unexpected challenge after someone dies—not because they're particularly valuable financially, but because no one knows what to do with them.
Your Digital Life Doesn't End Automatically
Many people assume that online accounts simply disappear after someone passes away. In reality, every platform has its own policies.
Some accounts remain active indefinitely. Others can be memorialized. Some may eventually be deleted after long periods of inactivity. In many cases, loved ones must navigate complicated verification processes before any action can be taken.
That means important memories can become difficult to access, while inactive accounts continue existing online for years.
Your Digital Legacy Is Bigger Than Social Media
When people think about digital legacy planning, they often think about Facebook.
But your digital footprint is much broader.
It may include:
Family photos stored in cloud services
Email accounts containing important records
Online banking and investment accounts
Subscription services that continue billing
Loyalty points and rewards programs
Personal websites or blogs
Business files and intellectual property
Cryptocurrency and digital wallets
Password managers
Important legal and financial documents
Without a plan, locating and managing these assets can become incredibly time-consuming for loved ones.
Every Platform Has Different Rules
One of the biggest misconceptions about digital assets is that family members automatically gain access to your online accounts after you die.
They don't.
Every platform has its own policies, timelines, and requirements—and unless you've made decisions in advance, those policies will determine what happens to your digital life.
For example:
Facebook allows you to designate a Legacy Contact who can manage certain aspects of your memorialized account after your death. If you don't choose one, your loved ones have fewer options for managing your profile. You can also choose to have your account permanently deleted instead of memorialized.
Apple allows you to add Legacy Contacts who can request access to much of your Apple Account and iCloud data after your death using a special access key and proof of death.
Google offers Inactive Account Manager, which lets you decide what happens if your account goes unused for a period of time. You can choose trusted contacts to receive specific data, send a final message, or have your account automatically deleted.
LinkedIn allows immediate family members or authorized representatives to request that a deceased member's account be closed, but there is no option to designate someone in advance to manage your account.
Instagram, like Facebook, allows accounts to be memorialized or removed after death, but memorialized accounts cannot be managed by a family member.
These features are helpful, but they only work if you know they exist and take the time to set them up.
Even then, they only cover that one platform.
Your online banking, subscriptions, password manager, cryptocurrency, digital documents, loyalty programs, and countless other accounts all have their own policies—if they have a process at all.
Leaving each company to decide what happens to your digital life isn't much of a plan.
Digital Estate Planning Gives You Control
Instead of forcing your family to guess what you wanted—or navigate dozens of different company policies—you can make those decisions now.
A digital estate plan allows you to decide:
Which accounts should be deleted
Which memories should be preserved
Who should have access to important files
Where passwords and account information are securely stored
How your digital assets fit into your broader estate plan
Rather than relying on each platform's individual settings, you create one centralized plan that makes your wishes clear.
The GoodTrust Digital Vault makes it easy to add online accounts alongside what you’d like to happen with them and designate trusted contacts with whom to share that valuable information with.
Make Life Easier For The People You Love
The best estate plans don't just distribute assets—they reduce stress.
When families lose someone, they're already navigating grief, funeral arrangements, financial responsibilities, and legal paperwork. Spending weeks trying to recover family photos, cancel subscriptions, locate passwords, or contact dozens of technology companies only adds to that burden.
A simple digital legacy plan can spare loved ones countless hours of frustration while helping preserve the memories that matter most.
Your Legacy Lives Online Too
Today, some of our most meaningful memories exist only in digital form.
The photos your family treasures.
The messages you've saved.
The documents you've spent years creating.
The stories you've shared.
Estate planning isn't just about protecting what you own—it's about protecting your entire legacy.
Don't leave Facebook, Google, Apple, or any other technology company to decide what happens after you're gone.
Make those decisions yourself, and give your loved ones one less thing to worry about.
Get started with your GoodTrust Digital Vault today, here.