Apple (iCloud): the platform with the most to lose
What Legacy Contact grants. What it does not. Why the iCloud Keychain is excluded by design, and what to put in the folder so the family still has a way in.
The Blue Folder
When you're not here to answer the questions.
A free printable that shows your family what Apple, Google, and Microsoft actually do when someone dies. And the one thing each one will never do for them.
- Apple Legacy Contact: what's included, and the iCloud Keychain gap.
- Google Inactive Account Manager: data delivery, not account access.
- Microsoft one-year inactivity, and the recovery path that isn't there.
Illustration created with AI.
Here's what happens.
The bank accounts. The email no one remembers. The subscription that keeps billing. The phone number that gets reassigned to a stranger 45 days after disconnection.
When someone dies, their digital life doesn't shut down neatly. It locks.
Accounts freeze. Passwords die with them. The family is left holding a phone that won't unlock and a stack of letters they can't answer.
Simple things become hard. Hard things become impossible.
Why I built this.
When my dad died, his business account locked within a day. My sister had been signing cheques for ten years. She wasn't an approved signatory. Nobody checked.
I spent weeks on the phone with banks, email providers, and a phone company that had already reassigned his number. Nobody sends a guide for this. So I built one.
David, founder
What the checklist covers.
Google: data delivery, not account access
How Inactive Account Manager works, what the family actually receives, and why the backup codes are the most important thing you print.
Microsoft: no handover tool exists
One year of inactivity and the account is deleted. What to do this week so the family is not the one to discover it.
The one-page worksheet
Three platforms, three rows. Where the keys live, not the keys themselves. Fill it in at the kitchen table.
The other six things that lock first
The full organizer covers phone number reassignment, bank signatory gaps, subscriptions that keep billing, power of attorney at death, password manager master passwords, and email, photos, crypto, and social media. The handover is the free piece. The full organizer is on the way.
See what's inside.
Six pages. Apple, Google, Microsoft, a worksheet, and a note on what we didn't cover.
Common questions.
Is this a will?
No. The Blue Folder is an organizer. It shows where things are and how to get in. Wills and estate documents are a separate category, and we never write them.
Do I write my passwords down in it?
No. The folder holds WHERE things are and HOW to get in. Passwords stay in your password manager. The folder tells the family where to find the password manager and the Emergency Kit.
Is this really free?
Yes. The six-page handover is free, printable, and yours to keep. The full organizer is a paid product coming later.
Will you spam me?
No. One welcome email with the PDF link. A handful of follow-ups at most. Unsubscribe anytime, no questions.
Get the free handover.
Six pages. Apple, Google, Microsoft. Fill in tonight.