Setting up a legacy contact
Ten minutes now decides whether your family can ever reach your photos and documents.
What's usually going on
Phones and accounts are locked well enough that, without preparation, a family may never get back in. Apple and Google both let you name someone in advance. Without that, getting access usually means legal paperwork and a long wait, and it isn't always granted.
Worth trying first
Apple: add a Legacy Contact.
On an iPhone: Settings, your name, Sign-In & Security, Legacy Contact. Choose a person. They receive an access key, which they will need along with a death certificate.
Google: set up Inactive Account Manager.
At myaccount.google.com, search for "Inactive Account Manager". Choose how long the account must be unused, who is told, and what they may download.
Share the keys to the rest.
A password manager with emergency or family access covers what Apple and Google don't: banking, utilities, and the accounts nobody else knows exist.
Write down the device passcodes.
Keep them with your will or in a safe, not in an email. A legacy contact can reach account data, but cannot unlock the phone itself.
Tell the person.
A legacy contact who doesn't know they are one, or where the key is, is not much use.
When to hand it over
If you'd like this done properly for the whole household in one sitting, with every account, device, and passcode accounted for.
Your own technologist, on call.
Tell us a little about your setup. We'll take it from there.