Passwords — don’t take them with you

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	BEST PRACTICES Passwords — don’t take them with you
	By Lincoln Spector In an unpredictable world, careful estate planning helps those we leave behind. But these plans often fail to account for what are becoming the primary repositories of our critical personal information: password-protected, digital files.

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Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Hi Lincoln,
I’ve been working on these machines since 1986 and have been following you and Fred for almost that long and you’all have helped me be what I am today. Thank You.

About the Passwords – don’t take them with you article, I have over 300 I’ve collected over the years along with numerous bank accounts, brokerage acounts and insurance policies. I use RoboForm Everywhere and keep all my passwords and contacts stored there. I use the “Safenotes” feature to keep my other account information in. I repair my lawyers computers and keep a paper copy of these in their safe and also the master password to RoboForm Everywhere on a thumbdrive encrypted with “their” favorite password. I am widowed and have no children, but my siblings will need access after my demise. What do you think about this practice? Thank You, Curtis W

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Using passwords in browsers should also be considered. It is a great convenience to allow the browser to remember the passwords to frequently accessed sites.
In Firefox it is highly recommended to use a Master Password. Otherwise passwords are openly seen by anyone who knows where to look.
The setting is in Options-Security to remember passwords.

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Rather than spread your master password around, doesn’t it make more sense to write it on a piece of paper and put it in your safety deposit box or another physically secure place that becomes accessible post mortem?

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I have been using a product called PortableSafe for a while now. Not quite free but very cheap. The big avantage is you can fit each entry to the requirements of that particular site. Questions/memorable names dates etc. Not just a URL and password with notes.
http://www.boydevlin.co.uk/portsafe/portsafe.php

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I have been using the free version of a product called LastPass.
The new idea that I have today is to print out my “Vault” and put a copy of that list into the Safe Deposit Box.

Frankly, I cannot imagine any family member taking time to do anything with it, because they are all so very very busy with their own lives. I am confident they will want to spend the absolute least possible amount of time and energy winding up my affairs after my demise. Even at the risk of short-changing themselves by overlooking some of my assets, I predict they will focus only on those items that are easy to find and cash out, and simply ignore anything that would involve some effort.

Nevertheless, it won’t hurt to leave the list behind with other papers. Hopefully someone in the family will locate and recognize the safe deposit box key.

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