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The monthly note · August 2026

Your digital life needs a map, not a list of passwords.

Two people at a kitchen table sharing a screen, looking at it together
 

Hi there,

Most of us have far more online accounts than we could name. Your family doesn't need all of them. They need the ten that matter, and to know what you'd want done with each.

One thing first. Please don't write passwords on a list. This month is about knowing what exists and where it lives. Passwords belong in a password manager.

 

This month's one job: list your ten most important accounts

About 30 minutes.

1. Start with your main email. It's the key to resetting almost everything else.
2. Add your phone account (Apple or Google), your banking apps and anywhere your photos live.
3. Add anything that takes money each month: subscriptions, utilities, memberships.
4. For each one, note the email it uses and what you'd want: close it, keep it or turn it into a memorial.
5. Tell one person how they'd get into your password manager if they had to.
 

Keep the list in FamilySafe and it sits next to your bank, home and insurance details.

 
Start your free account
 
 
 

What’s changed: why probate gets held up

The Ministry of Justice published its figures for January to March 2026 in June. On average, a grant of probate took 5 weeks from application.

The average hides a big gap. Applications that were stopped took 14 weeks. Those that weren’t took 2.

Applications get stopped when there's a question over who can apply, a problem with the will, or an error that needs more information. Families who know what someone had, and where, give the registry fewer reasons to stop.

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026

 

Worth a read

Organise your entire digital life

Where to start when there's too much.

 

How to store passwords safely as a family

Sharing access without sharing everything.

 

What is a digital executor?

Who looks after your accounts, and whether you need one.

 

We also have step-by-step guides for Facebook, Google, Apple and other accounts after someone dies.

 
 

Free template

Social media will template

A simple record of what you'd like to happen to each of your online accounts.

Get the free template
 

From FamilySafe

Digital accounts have their own place in your FamilySafe record. You decide who can see them, and access stays closed until you've said it should open.

 
 
 

See you in September.

Brian and Richard, FamilySafe

 

P.S. Apple and Google both let you name someone in advance to access your account after you die. It's a five-minute job in your phone settings, and easy to miss.

 

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One short, useful note a month. Practical household steps, plain-English wills and probate news, and the odd FamilySafe feature.

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This is the August 2026 edition of the monthly note. Links and dates were correct at the time of sending.

FamilySafe, Halifax, West Yorkshire

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