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1P_nick
1P_nick
Community Manager
November 11, 2025
Question

Random but Memorable 15.9: Why you need a digital estate plan (and where to start) with Erin Bury

  • November 11, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 135 views

Hey everyone! 👋 A new episode of 1Password's Random but Memorable podcast has dropped!

Episode summary
Ever wondered what happens to your online accounts when you’re gone? 💭 This week, we’re joined by Erin Bury, CEO of Willful, to talk about the importance of digital estate planning — what it is, why it matters, and how to make it easier. Erin breaks down how to protect your online accounts, manage your digital legacy, and give your loved ones control of the information that matters most. 📝💙

In Watchtower Weekly, we uncover the rise of AI impersonator scams including fake ChatGPT tools and malicious “AI upgrades” that trick people into giving up their data. ⚠️

Don't have time to watch or listen? Read the interview highlights on 1Password Community.

You can chat about anything discussed in the episode in the thread below!

    1 reply

    H
    hehemrin
    November 14, 2025

    This episode was about digital estate planning and I have a question about 1Password specifically in the estate planning. 

    The 1Password subscription is typically renewed annually, typically with credit card payment. But when I have passed away, I cannot pay any more, and any automatic payment from my credit card does not work any more. My subscription may end the day after I pass away, or eventually a year after.

    What happens with my 1Password account when subscription is not renewed? How long after can those who I have given details to inherit my account reopen it? Can they pay with their credit card?

    I would like to read (including any reference to already existing info) and possibly also explained in a pod episode how I can know that an estate planning including 1Password indeed will be accessible as long as needed for those who inherit my planning, also after my payment is overdue. Or if it is so bad that can gone and is discovered to be useless as estate planning.

      1P_Timothy
      1P_Timothy
      Community Manager
      November 14, 2025

      Hi @hehemrin, thanks for listening to the episode! These are great questions, and important ones to be thinking about while estate planning. 

      What happens with my 1Password account when subscription is not renewed?

      If a subscription to 1Password lapses, the account will become frozen. When an account is frozen you'll lose most functionality (such as filling, saving and editing items), but importantly your saved items will remain secure and only accessible to those who should have access. 

      How long after can those who I have given details to inherit my account reopen it? Can they pay with their credit card?

      You can reactivate a frozen account at any time to restore full functionality.

      If you have a 1Password Families account and there is more than one family organizer, any active family organizer can add a new payment method to reactivate a frozen account, or add one preemptively to avoid any disruption.

      If you're using a 1Password individual account, or you're the only family organizer in a family account your inheritor would need access to your 1Password account to reactivate it. This can be done a few ways but we typically suggest leaving your completed Emergency Kit, or a recovery code along with access to your email, in a personal safe with your will, or with an attorney or estate-planning company that's managing your will. Once a trusted inheritor has access they could add their own payment method to your account, or add themselves as a family organizer then add a payment method to their account. 

      A great companion to this episode of Random but Memorable is our digital estate planning guide. Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks again!

      H
      hehemrin
      November 14, 2025

      Thanks for explanation. It is very useful, and important, to know that a frozen account will stay frozen forever (or at least for a very long time) unless reactivated, and that it is not deleted after a grace period. And methods for handing over info how to reactivate etc. Thanks for your response. 

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