How do you secure your personal digital accounts and privacy during a divorce?

Start with a private inventory of the accounts, devices and shared services that affect you. Distinguish personal accounts from jointly owned accounts, work systems and records you may need to preserve. A change that seems routine can affect another person's access or alert someone who monitors a device.

If you are concerned about monitoring or personal safety, seek appropriate support and use a device and channel you believe are safe. Apple's Personal Safety User Guide explains how to review sharing and access on supported devices. Follow guidance for your situation rather than automatically switching off every shared service.

ZeroLatch is a delayed instructions service. It is not an emergency response tool, a way to establish ownership or a substitute for individual legal advice.

The digital decoupling checklist for divorce

List the services involved: personal email, cloud storage, password managers, location sharing, family subscriptions and connected home devices. Record the account owner, authorised users, recovery contact and any relevant documents. Do not put passwords into this inventory.

Review official provider settings for your own accounts. Before changing jointly controlled access or deleting information, seek advice about the arrangement and preserve relevant records. Avoid making a rushed change that leaves you without a working recovery route.

Keep copies of the inventory and professional contact details in an appropriate protected place. A useful continuity note might say which adviser holds a document and how an authorised person should contact them. It should not instruct someone to bypass account controls, conceal assets or destroy records.

Review the inventory when arrangements change. The objective is clear, accurate information and appropriate access, not a universal checklist that assumes every relationship or account is the same.

How to handle digital assets division in court

The treatment of digital assets during divorce depends on ownership, applicable law and court orders. Give your lawyer and any qualified valuer accurate account, contract and transaction records. Do not assume loyalty points are transferable, a revenue multiple establishes business value or a technical key handoff is appropriate to the proceeding. Preserve relevant evidence and use the disclosure process advised for your case.

Store your private legal records securely: If appropriate and approved by your lawyer, a ZeroLatch delivery can preserve an encrypted continuity copy of selected agreements and instructions for an authorised recipient. The current minimum check-in is 1 day and lifecycle processing runs daily, so it is not a duress alert. Preserve discoverable records and follow all legal holds and disclosure duties.

Use our Death Audit Checklist to inventory joint versus personal digital assets.