Leaving a paper trail in case I die

OP's idea is remarkably sensible.

Be careful not to overthink it though. Whilst wishing to preserve security of documentation the interested parties need to be able to access the documents easily and promptly. You should certainly have a separate backup up just in case there is any kind of systems failure with the original. e.g. give your wife her own copy of the data and let her store that on her own system with her own password.

There is nothing worse, as an executor, than trying to hunt down relevant documentation for probate and associated needs.

Also create a will so that you can ensure that your wishes are honoured.

As for leaving passwords for accounts, I dont think this is that necessary. Just a list of institutions you have accounts with and the types of accounts will be sufficient. They will all need to be contacted and informed of your passing with relevant death certs etc by the executor of your estate or legal representative. They have processes for dealing with this sort of thing but it takes time. If you have investments with American institutions like fidelity etc for things like company shares, these can be difficult to deal with as their documentation expectation is American and they are not necessarily familiar with the irish probate process.

Your "estate" can pay for the funeral and funeral homes are usually very good at giving you time to pay. When my husband died two years ago I remember I had to nag the funeral home for a final bill and payment details. They were happy to wait for the money, I just wanted it done and paid for.

Your wife cant actually go raid your accounts willy nilly after you've passed either. All your assets pass to your estate, to be then divided up based on inheritance rules or your will or both. Your estate can pay for things related to your death. When you are writing your will, talk to your solicitor about the best way to address accessing cash for household expenses. A joint account may be the option there.

Also open an account with a credit union. They usually have a death benefit payment. Free money and all that.

It is definitely good to prepare for these things and have access set-up. In my experience companies that want money from you (service providers etc) will gladly just update account and payment details to keep the money flowing. Companies that hold assets and money are much trickier to deal with.

Another thing to consider is things like health insurance. If you have employer provided health insurance that covers dependents this will cease on the date of death. No grace period no nothing. In my experience, my husband got a nice letter from the insurance company 6 weeks after his death saying how sorry they were to lose him as a customer and that he should consider them again in the future.

My wife only rejoined the workforce last year after being out of it for 12 years (kids). It occurred to me a few years back that she'd be fairly screwed if anything happened to me as there'd be no income coming into the house except child benefit, all our savings were in the credit union in my name and we have no joint accounts. (We had had a joint savings account with Rabobank but they closed.)

So she opened an account solely in her name with the local credit union (I'm with a work one) and we split our savings 50:50 between the credit unions. So there's immediate access to cash there if anything happens to either of us. We have life insurance, death in service benefit in my job, etc. but all of those things take time to access - not as long as probate but far from immediate either.

Decent fingerprint sensors will not work on a dead finger. Nor will an undertaker give you body parts!

Now I have a mental image of bereaved spouse at a wake holding a phone over the open coffin trying to unlock it with face recognition 😮

Well, I was tongue in cheek on the finger. Hence phone pin and Google PW, a great start.

Ah, I knew what you meant, just couldn’t help myself . The devil made me do it 😀