Best Mac-friendly software to organize personal info for my spouse

I’ve been thinking about the same sort of thing. My thoughts were it needs to be something that is shared. i.e. it is on both of your devices. Your spouse isn't going to remember where on your computer this when-I-die folder is. They are probably stressed immediately after the event and when they need the information most. My first thought was a shared locked Apple Notes Note but I'm not sure if you can share locked apple notes.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet but your post made me revisit what I need to do.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Good discussion.

My own current thoughts re: “location” of the detailed info “store” …

First, it assumes the use of Apple’s Legacy Contact(s).

How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple Account - Apple Support

Your Legacy Contact is preferably an Apple User so as to best leverage Apple’s already built-in security linkages. Ideally he/she should also be your designated executor/executrix.

Create a “When I’m Gone” unshared folder on your iCloud drive with all the myriad of details necessary to settle your estate. (This folder is on your iCloud drive so it’s contents are still secure, viewable only by you from your trusted devices)

Show this folder in-person to your Legacy Contact and/or Estate Executor.

The Legacy Contact will gain access to your Apple Account — including the “When I’m Gone” folder — only AFTER executing the steps outlined below:

Request access to an Apple Account as a Legacy Contact - Apple Support

Ours is an Apple-only household.

Then why are you using Microsoft Excel? Microsoft is notorious for imposing required paid upgrades for the privilege of continuing to open and use documents created with their products.

For less than savvy users consider using something simple, such a printed document in the form of a will, a solution that has been used for centuries. Merely logging in to a Mac whose owner has died can be a challenge for even sophisticated users. If those login credentials are not completely perfect it will be literally impossible. They won't even get to the steps required for finding that Excel spreadsheet on that Mac, opening it, printing it, etc, and your work will have been in vain.

I suggest you don't use software at all.

If you have not done so already consider adding your spouse and / or as many others as you deem appropriate as a Legacy Contact: How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple Account. That way, they will at least have access to your Apple Account, which can be used to reset login passwords used for your Apple devices.

Chattanoogan's recommendation to store information in iCloud Drive is an excellent one. It obviates any concerns about accessing the iMac's contents.

Plenty of people experience difficulty logging into a Mac for a variety of reasons. Hardware failure for example can occur at any time, and sometimes that failure manifests in it rejecting completely legitimate login credentials that you are 100% are correct. That's challenging enough even for a Mac that you own and remains under your sole control. So, you're on the right track with paper copies in a fireproof safe, backed up with copies retained by an attorney or executor.

I have been thinking about this because I recently started going to radiation therapy.

I have already done a testament. And I plan to do that Legacy Contact for my Apple Account for my wife and children so they can access my account, if needed.

Additionally, I update a readily visible USB thumb drive that contains manuals and settings for the household devices as well as other miscellaneous documents that might be useful for the rest of the family. Those docs are just plain .txt, .pdf, and LibreOffice/MS Office documents.

Your thoughts are great!

How capable is your wife with technology? My wife is not at the same level I am and I am trying to keep things as simple as possible by having most digital items in plain text format that can be opened by pretty much any software. I keep the files in an encrypted sparse bundle (a file which turns into a "drive" on a computer) which requires knowing one password to open. My sister knows the password but doesn't have the file. Right now the bundle file is on my computer but I plan on keeping it on a flash drive too so she doesn't have to learn how to use my computer.

Finally, nothing beats a printed copy in terms of simplicity.

I haven't checked recently but there used to be "deadman's switch" web sites which would automatically send an email if you didn't sign into the site in a given amount of time.

It's difficult enough these days to prove you're a human, let alone proving you are who you are.

The reason for my reticence is that I know older people for whom composing an email was beyond their abilities. On the other hand they had no problem driving a car with a manual transmission, while younger people couldn't find first gear (literally).

The most post-mortem accessible, and readily available technology is a portable, plastic file organizer, fire-proof safe, or even a safe deposit box with current analog documents in it including a notarized and witnessed will, executor info, and other legal/estate/financial documentation to assist your wife. Digital and updated, printed analog copies while you are alive.

Ideally, it is beneficial to have an established attorney, accountant, and financial planner relationship (all trusted by you) to assist your wife when she needs help the most with legal, real estate, and financial matters.

Have you established an Apple Legacy Contact as your wife, so she can access your Mac and Apple accounts?

FWIW, there is no way I would store any financial/sensitive/personal information on a cloud storage system over which I have no control. Users have no physical or other control with respect to access, safety, security, location, backups, or sharing, of cloud storage, whether iCloud, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, or any other third-party off-site storage system.

I would opt for physical hard copy storage both onsite and in another physical secure safe location.

Thanks.

It’s still VERY MUCH a work in-progress.

I’m still unclear how Security Keys for Apple Account and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud might affect the Legacy Contact’s ability to access any files in an iCloud folder.

(My initial suspicions are “not much” for the former but potentially “real issues” with the latter)

About Security Keys for Apple Account - Apple Support

Advanced Data Protection for iCloud - Apple Support

Absolutely concur about iCloud — or ANY “cloud” storage.

For full backwards-compatibility in an emergency, there’s no substitute for a notebook w/ paper pages.

What is actually put in iCloud related to this topic is a whole other matter yet to be determined.

I also suspect (w/o any solid basis) that Advanced Data Protection for iCloud will also prevent access by the Legacy contact.

I’ve got a separate — normally off-net — systems devoted solely to financial and personal security.