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BY The Conversation

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What happens to all of your online accounts—credit cards, merchants, news subscriptions, social media, streaming services—after you die? How will your heirs know how to access these accounts or understand what you want done with them? Most people haven’t considered these questions, and this lack of planning can create significant headaches for next of kin.

We studied challenges older adults encounter when thinking about what should happen to their online accounts after they die. We interviewed 21 American adults over age 60 to learn about their concerns, needs, and practices for their online accounts, as well as what would make planning for these accounts easier.

Most of the people we interviewed had hired lawyers or estate planners to draft wills specifying how their money and physical property should be handled after their deaths.…