Sharing a subset of my passwords to family in emergency situations

TravelSD

I'm an avid 1Password user and I'm trying to plan for an emergency situation (such as my passing) so that a designated person can gain access to a subset (NOT all) of my credentials stored in a 1Password vault when the time comes. What I do NOT want is ongoing access while I'm alive. I'm thinking of some type of 'open in case of emergency' document stored in a safe that can be accessed, which has instructions on how to open a 1Password vault that just has the credentials I want to share.

If I wanted to give my successor FULL access to my vault I know I could just leave behind the 1P emergency sheet w/master password. But I have many credentials and other info that I want to keep private even upon my death. Ideally I'd love a way to tag credentials in my primary 1P vault that could be accessed with a secondary master password that I could leave to my successor in a physical safe. Or a way to tag credentials that are real time sync'd with a wholly separate vault with unique secret key and master password that I leave in a safe.

Are there any options with 1P that can fulfill my requirements? Maybe I'm over thinking this, but I'm stumped on the best way to proceed.

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Ben

Hi @TravelSD

My plan for this, which I have unfortunately not carried out yet, is to utilize a special 'guest' account specifically for the purpose. The setup requires a 1Password Families, 1Password Teams, or 1Password Business membership... it is not possible with an individual account, as it isn't possible to add guests to individual accounts. The general idea is:

• Create a guest account within my 1Password Families membership called "Ben's Executor" (or similar): Share with guests in 1Password Families
• Create a vault that both the guest and I have access to
• Move any items I want my executor to have access to into said vault
• Print the Emergency Kit for the guest account and fill in the Master Password, then give that to my attorney for safe keeping: Get to know your Emergency Kit (other possible options would include a fire safe or bank deposit box)

That's my plan, and it seems to be at least somewhat in line with what you're looking for. I hope the idea is helpful. :)

Ben

TravelSD

Ben,

Thanks for the detailed process! Very helpful. One question. When configuring a guest account, should I re-use the email address for my primary 1P account, or use another address?

Ben

Glad to hear that. :) As for the email... would have to be a different address, as each account within a membership requires a unique email address. Depending on your email provider you may be able to configure an alias for your primary email address, or use "plus addressing" (e.g. TravelSD+GuestAccount@provider.example) if you want the emails to be delivered to you.

Ben

williakz

@Ben, regarding your guest account/move items method: assuming that you wish your executor to have access to all your items (other than strictly private/personal ones), does that mean you'd have to operate from a single vault or, alternatively would have to give the guest account access to all your vaults (multiple ones created to bolster utility of tags/sorting)? In other words doesn't "moving" imply an item once located, say, in your main vault then moved to the vault shared with the guest account would no longer exist in the main account? Copying items wouldn't work because their contents could diverge after the copy event, correct? Also, does the guest account count against the Family member limit of 5 (or higher)? Thanks in advance for any response—it's an interesting (and necessary) discussion, not only for the principal 1Password account holder but as well to deal with other family members' accounts after their passing.

Ben

Hey @williakz

regarding your guest account/move items method: assuming that you wish your executor to have access to all your items (other than strictly private/personal ones), does that mean you'd have to operate from a single vault or, alternatively would have to give the guest account access to all your vaults (multiple ones created to bolster utility of tags/sorting)?

Guests can only have access to a single vault. If you needed to do this utilizing multiple vaults, you'd have to invite the 'executor' account as a full family member (which would count as a family member for billing purposes whereas a guest does not).

In other words doesn't "moving" imply an item once located, say, in your main vault then moved to the vault shared with the guest account would no longer exist in the main account?

You'd move it from your Personal vault to the vault shared with the guest, yes. It would no longer be in the Personal vault.

Copying items wouldn't work because their contents could diverge after the copy event, correct?

Correct; this is exactly why I'll be moving rather than copying.

Also, does the guest account count against the Family member limit of 5 (or higher)?

Guests are counted separately from Family Members.

"Your family account includes 5 guests. You can invite more guests for an additional cost." — from https://support.1password.com/guests/

Thanks in advance for any response—it's an interesting (and necessary) discussion, not only for the principal 1Password account holder but as well to deal with other family members' accounts after their passing.

Sure thing :+1: Definitely the sort of thing each family / individual will need to evaluate to see what will work best for them, but I hope that sharing my plan helps others determine what might be appropriate for them.

Ben