Accessing the Account

If someone named you to handle their affairs and they used LivingWill, this article explains exactly how you gain access to what they left, and why the process is built the way it is.

You cannot just log in

This surprises people, so we want to state it plainly. There is no support line that can simply hand you the account. The person's content is encrypted with a key derived from a passphrase only they knew, which LivingWill never holds. Access for you is not "us unlocking it." It is a controlled, verified process that respects the privacy they chose while still letting the right person in.

Step one: submit a posthumous access claim

You begin by submitting a posthumous access claim, identifying yourself as the designated person, typically the executor or a trusted contact the account holder named. You will provide information that lets LivingWill verify what happened and who you are.

Step two: verification

Before anything is granted, the claim is verified. This generally includes:

• Confirmation of death, such as a certified death certificate.
• Your identity, so the person gaining access is really you.
• Your role, confirming you are someone the account holder designated for this.

Verification protects the deceased person and the family. It is the barrier that stops someone from impersonating an executor to reach private letters and documents.

Step three: the waiting period

After a claim is verified, a 45 day waiting period applies before access is granted. This is not bureaucratic delay. It is a deliberate safety window that guards against fraud, coercion, and mistakes during a time when families are vulnerable, and it leaves room to halt a wrongful claim before harm is done. It has its own article: the 45 day waiting period. Start early so this window runs while you handle other tasks.

Step four: access, as the person specified

When the waiting period completes, access is granted strictly according to what the account holder set up: which documents, letters, and videos were designated for after death, and to whom. You do not get more than they chose to give. The account holder's intentions, not your role alone, define the scope.

The offline decryption tool

LivingWill maintains an open-source tool, livingwill-decrypt, that lets families decrypt the designated content offline, on their own computer, without depending on LivingWill being available. This matters for two reasons. It means access does not hinge forever on any single company continuing to operate, and it means the cryptography is open to inspection rather than a black box. If you reach the decryption stage, the tool and its instructions are how the sealed content becomes readable for the people entitled to it.

What to do now

• Begin the claim as early as you reasonably can, because of the waiting period.
• Gather the death certificate and your identification before you start.
• Keep your own records of each step; the audit log also records the process for transparency.
• Read the 45 day waiting period so the timing does not catch you off guard.