Protect Your Online Afterlife

Never a happy thought, but what happens to your online accounts after you die? More to the point, what do YOU want to have happen to them?
 
As far as email accounts go, some services already offer help. Hotmail, for example, will let executors have a CD of the whole account against proof of death and probate.
 
Gmail is similar, except they also want a copy of an email sent to the person applying. With most other email services, you are pretty much on your own. But there is one obvious solution.
 
You can give a trusted friend or relative your passwords and ask them to go into your accounts with a view to deleting everything, if that's what you want.
 
If that does not work for you, there is a relatively new online service called Legacy Locker (www.legacylocker.com), that will store encrypted information, including passwords, to give to your designated 'cyber heir'.
 
Social networking sites are a bit easier. Facebook, for example, will take down a dead user's profile and place it in a 'memorial state', allowing access only to close friends and family.
 
But, even if that dreaded day is still far off, it's not too early to think this one through. It might not be quite as important as making a will, but it's right up there when it comes to peace of mind.