For all the vaunted convenience of the digital age, one area where it could perhaps be tweaked is when someone dies, and the person’s digital imprint is at risk of being lost forever.

Those left behind often struggle to access a loved one’s social media profiles to retrieve digital mementoes, whether they be photos, correspondence or perhaps even a written family history. Gaining access to online bank accounts and insurance policies can also be a nightmare to figure out.

And as one expert points out, tracing digitized data may reveal sensitive information; instances of infidelity, for example.

So, here are some tips on how to avert problems based on one family’s ordeal in trying to sort out the estate of a close member who died suddenly overseas.

LIVED ALONE AND HAD ASSETS

In April, a 57-year-old company employee in Saitama Prefecture north of Tokyo learned that her brother-in-law had died after an illness.

Complicating matters was the fact that the brother-in-law, 55, had been living abroad by himself. He was apparently found by a co-worker.

He had already lost his wife, so their only son, 23, was nominally in charge of handling the estate.

Before long, as the arduous effort needed began to dawn on the family, she pitched in as a close relative.

Among the deceased’s mementoes were three smartphones and two tablet computers. No one knew the passcodes for the devices. Especially problematic was the fact that entering a wrong code 10 times in succession can render a device inaccessible for good.

Although the relatives contacted the manufacturers, the companies simply told them that passcodes cannot be divulged under any circumstances.

Also, the bank accounts, insurance policies and other financial assets were mostly managed online.

The dead man’s cash cards helped the family members discover some accounts. They requested transaction receipts from banks to cancel electricity and gas services listed in the documents.

The woman and the son contacted an airline operator about taking over any accumulated air miles under the corporation’s loyalty program and found there were enough for the son to travel around the world.

Reaching out to entities the deceased had financial dealings with, the son ended up inheriting financial assets totaling 70 million yen ($450,000) to 80 million yen.

Despite all the hard work, there is still a possibility more accounts exist. Cash might constantly be withdrawn under an online subscription account since the father’s smartphones and tablet PCs have yet to be unlocked.

“Unknown assets popped up one after another,” the woman recalled.

She said the experience spurred her to start considering ways to share details of her own digital mementoes with her family, in the hope of sparing them the same bothersome process.

CLUES TO EASY SUCCESSION

Lawyer Atsushi Iseda, representative director of the Japan digital inheritance association, gives lecture sessions on how to neatly sort out their electronic “properties” while they are still alive.

He recommends that people who want to know the details of a deceased relative’s securities accounts and fee-based services contact the Japan Securities Depository Center for disclosure of information on registered account holders.

He suggested that bereaved family members search for cash cards or visit the person’s bank at the same time.

Fee-based contracts can also be pinpointed based on bank cash withdrawal records as well as credit card transaction histories.

Iseda said people can easily start their own preparations by writing down passcodes for mobile devices. He suggested that passwords be stored in wallets or passbooks and other easily accessible locations for the sake of bereaved family members.

Users of online brokers, bank accounts and subscription services are advised to list their registered contracts beforehand.

In the meantime, Iseda said the issue of digital asset succession extends beyond financial assets.

He cited instances of a bereaved family member checking a loved one’s smartphone and, as a result, finding messages and photos of the deceased’s adulterous partners. Secret social media accounts are another area that can reveal unsavory aspects of a person’s life.

“Smartphones are just like hidden floral gardens reflecting all the interests and tastes of their owners,” Iseda explained. “Many individuals want their devices to be kept away from others’ prying eyes even after their deaths.”

In an ideal world, passcodes for cellphones should be shared with family members in advance to smoothly pass down digital assets. So, smartphone holders with secrets they want to keep are better off deleting or locking any data and files they don’t want others to see.

Those who desperately hope to ensure the information in their smartphones is never accessed by someone else should transfer only necessary data to PCs without revealing the passcodes for their smartphones and share the passwords for those PCs with other people.

“Those who have not yet envisioned their own deaths should prepare for their demise by tidying up their digital mementoes,” Iseda warned. “Multiple strategies can be combined so as to respond to the problem more effectively.”

Digital Data Solution Inc., which started a dedicated service to deal with digital assets in Tokyo in September 2017, said it received upward of 3,500 inquiries by August 2024. About 80 percent of the inquiries were about a deceased person’s passcodes.