By At Ease Online  · Updated May 2026 · 7 minute read
Giving a Family Member Access to Your Accounts Safely
There are good reasons to want a trusted person to have some access to your online accounts. There are also good reasons to be careful about how you do it. The two are not in conflict.
The most common reason is practicality. If you are unwell, travelling, or simply want someone you trust to be able to step in and help, having a family member who can access your email or check a bill on your behalf is genuinely useful. For many older adults, it also provides reassurance - knowing that if something goes wrong, someone close to them can take action without delay.
For adult children or other family members, it can reduce anxiety too. Rather than worrying about whether a parent's accounts are in order, they can check when needed and deal with things before they become problems.
Why people want to share access.
None of this requires handing over full control of your accounts, and it certainly does not require sharing every password you have. The goal is to give trusted access in a way that keeps you in charge.
What you should not do.
Before getting to the practical options, it is worth being clear about what to avoid.
Do not share your banking passwords or PINs. Your bank's terms and conditions explicitly prohibit sharing login credentials, and doing so can affect your ability to claim back money if fraud occurs. There are better ways to give a family member visibility of your finances.
Do not keep a list of all your passwords in a place others can easily find. A notebook by the computer, a note on the fridge, a file on your desktop called "passwords" as these are common and genuinely risky. If the wrong person finds them, your accounts are exposed.
Do not give blanket access to everything at once. Think carefully about which accounts genuinely need to be accessible to someone else, and which do not. Email, for example, is the master key to most of your other accounts. That is a significant thing to share without thought.
The right way to think about it.
There is a useful distinction between two types of access: the ability to view or monitor, and the ability to act. For most situations, view access is enough. A family member who can see your email or bank statements can spot problems and flag them to you. They do not necessarily need to be able to move money or send messages on your behalf.
Start by asking what you actually need them to be able to do. The answer will usually point to a sensible and secure arrangement.
Practical options for
sharing access.
Email accounts
Most email providers allow you to add a trusted person to your account without giving them your password, either through a delegate or shared access feature. In Gmail, for example, you can grant someone delegate access so they can read and respond to your emails without ever knowing your password, and you can remove their access at any time. The process takes a few minutes and is found in your account settings.
This is generally the cleanest approach: the person can help when needed, but your password remains yours alone.
Online banking
Banks in the UK have different policies on this, but most do not support shared online banking access in the same way email providers do. What they do offer are a few
structured alternatives.
Third party mandate
A third party mandate is a formal arrangement, agreed with your bank, that allows a named person to manage your account on your behalf. It is set up in writing and gives the bank's authorisation. The person can make calls, move money, and deal with correspondence - but only within the limits you have agreed. Your bank can explain exactly how to set this up.
Lasting Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that gives someone the authority to manage your finances and property if you become unable to do so yourself. It is more comprehensive than a mandate, requires registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, and takes several weeks to arrange. It is worth thinking about well in advance of any potential need. Age UK and Citizens Advice both provide free guidance on how to set one up.
Joint account
Adding a family member to an existing account, or opening a joint account for day-to-day expenses, is a straightforward option for those who want someone to have full access to a specific pot of money. It is worth understanding that both parties are equally responsible for the account, so this works best with someone you trust completely and where the account has a clear, limited purpose.
Using a password manager
A password manager stores all your passwords in one secure, encrypted place. Many of them, including 1Password and Bitwarden, have a feature specifically designed for this situation: emergency access. You can nominate a trusted person who, after a waiting period you set, can request access to your vault if something happens to you. The waiting period gives you time to deny the request if you receive it and everything is fine.
This is one of the most sensible arrangements available. Your passwords remain private during your lifetime, but the right person can get to them if genuinely needed.
For devices and Apple or Google accounts
Both Apple and Google have thought about this. Apple's Digital Legacy feature lets you designate people who can access your Apple ID and stored data after you die. Google's Inactive Account Manager does something similar, allowing you to decide what happens to your Google account and data if it is inactive for a set period. Both are worth setting up and take only a few minutes. Find the Gmail delegate access section here.
Having the conversation.
The practical arrangements are the easy part. For many families, the harder part is having the conversation in the first place. It can feel like a discussion about getting older, losing independence, or planning for the worst.
It is worth reframing it. Having this organised is not a sign of decline. It is a sign of good sense. The people who end up in difficult situations are usually those who never got round to it, and whose families are left scrambling with no access, no passwords, and no clear picture of what accounts even exist.
A useful starting point:Â Rather than a formal conversation, some people find it easier to start by writing a simple document, not passwords, but a list of which accounts they have, which email address is connected to each, and who their bank is. Kept somewhere known and secure, this alone can save a family member an enormous amount of difficulty.
Staying in control.
Whatever arrangement you put in place, a few principles are worth keeping in mind.
You should always be able to undo it. Any access you give should be removable by you at any time. If an arrangement cannot be reversed without the other person's cooperation, it gives them too much power.
Access should match need. Give someone access to what they need to help, not access to everything by default.
Review it occasionally. Circumstances change. Someone who was the right person to have access a few years ago may not still be. It is worth checking once a year that your arrangements still reflect your wishes.
Keep a record of what you have set up. A simple note of who has access to what, kept somewhere your family would know to look, saves confusion later.
One Final Note
You can't always have someone beside you to sort these things out. But when your accounts are properly organised and the right people have the right access, there is one less thing to worry about.
That's where we come in.
At Ease Online
We're worth knowing about
Sources
Sources: Age UK — power of attorney and financial planning guidance; Citizens Advice — Lasting Power of Attorney and third party mandates; Office of the Public Guardian — LPA registration guidance (gov.uk); UK Finance — third party account access guidance; Apple — Digital Legacy feature documentation; Google — Inactive Account Manager support documentation; Which? — shared account access and digital estate planning.
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This guide is for general information only. For advice specific to your circumstances, particularly regarding Lasting Power of Attorney, contact Citizens Advice or a solicitor.