With all the attention being given to the digital afterlife, I would like to share my real world experience with accessing my mother's online banking account during her incapacity and after her death.
Luckily, my mother had enough foresight to seek out an estate planning attorney many years before her passing. This attorney created a comprehensive estate plan, which contained a will, a financial power-of-attorney, a health care power-of-attorney, a living will, and a revocable living trust. In order to fund her revocable living trust she had to change the name on her bank accounts to the name of the trust.
When she became incapacitated, I needed to write checks and transfer money between accounts...no easy feat when the bank is located over 700 miles away. So I called the bank for help. They immediately responded by freezing all of her accounts. They told me that nothing else could be done without a power-of-attorney. Once they received a copy of my mother's financial power-of-attorney, they promptly gave me a new password to her online banking account and restored check writing privileges.
When she died things became more complicated. Once again, the bank responded by freezing all of her accounts. This time they needed copies of her death certificate, will, and revocable living trust. They also required a notarized copy of an "Acceptance of Successor Trustee" form from each of the living trust’s successor trustees. Only the executor of the estate received a new password to her online banking account, which was now restricted to read-only access. Check writing privileges were restored, but each check required the signature of each successor trustee.
Overall, the bank was very cooperative, once they received the proper paperwork. I can only imagine the problems a person could have without an estate plan. A virtual safe deposit box is a secure place to store information about online bank accounts, but never assume that just because you have the password that you can access an account without the proper authority. I highly recommend that you consult an estate planning attorney concerning the details of your specific situation. You won't get a second chance once your are gone!
James Bell
Special thanks to the employees of The First National Bank of Illinois