The last time this came up, for me, was years ago. I was not practicing as a lawyer, at all.

All I used my smart phone for was playing music, reading books, and taking pictures, so I saw no reason not to give my ex access - especially when we were traveling.

I THINK I can separately lock the legal email, I have the files locked separately.

Otherwise, it seems useful to just be able to hand her my phone when hers dies/for some reason mine works and hers doesn’t, etc.

(I kinda like the idea of keeping me on ATT and her on Verizon so we have two separate networks)

(I’m not married, yet. She’s traditional and wants me to talk to her father, etc.)

Question:
Does your wife/SO have access to your phone/user account on your computer

Choices:
Yes to both
No to both
Access to my user account on my computer
Access to my phone

 

She knows my phone password. My computer she doesn’t know but one of the things our financial advisor suggested is creating a spreadsheet with our passwords so she could easily get on my computer. I’m sure when one spouse dies passwords for a bunch of things would become a pain in the butt. Neither of us is hiding anything so having a spreadsheet is a good idea. It’s pretty surprising how many passwords you accumulate for doing every week tasks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1s1k,

Just a random thought but I would think a working lawyer would have separate phones & computers for business and personal.

If a husband has things on his phone that he wouldn't want his wife to see, there are problems in the works. If you are worried about her seeing legal documents, they shouldn't be on there without encryption anyway.

Both of us have access to each others phones; now that I’m retired, I don’t really even use a computer for anything really.

I did keep everything separate the at one time.

About all I do now is some document review for friends/family on occasion.

I do have all of the files separately encrypted/my password manager has a “delete on death” section and a “in the event of my death” section for whichever lawyer ends up taking over my files.

But it’s a valid point. It could definitely make stuff complicated.

Lugging a separate computer is irritating but I could set up an “Aglifter Law” user account, and a password recovery QR code for the legal section of my password manager, I think.

Have to look into that.

She's all I have. If she doesn't have access, and something happens to me, mom's bills don't get paid, my assets don't get found, and there's no one to notify my clients.

She's a licensed professional with confidentiality obligations, so I'm taking very little risk, and she has all her own equipment anyway, so it's not like she uses mine for anything.

I’m the tech guy at our house. I have access to all electronic devices. I give her the same. My wife is my best friend, I don’t have anything to hide from her. Hell, she’s my accomplice.

That said, I need to make sure she knows what to do should something happen to me.

My wife doesn't have access to my phone or computer, but she doesn't want it anyway. All she would need to do is ask & I would give it to her because there's nothing on either that I wouldn't want her to see. I do have all passwords written down with our will, so I guess she technically does have access if she wants it.

She has access to everything. Hell, we even share our personal email address.

quote:

Does your wife have access to your phone/computer?

Yes.

45 years together, married 44, no secrets here.

Yes to both.

Trust me, I have no secrets from my wife................except maybe that P-220 Equinox.

I answered 'Yes to both," but, there are caveats.

Our phones and tablets share the same pass codes. But, we each have our own logins on the computers, we each have our own digital keyrings (password managers) with different pass phrases, she has her own combination to the safe, we have separate email accounts with unique passwords, etc.

The pass phrase for her digital keyring is in a record in mine. The pass phrase for mine is in a sealed envelope in the safe.

In your case, being a practicing lawyer, I don't believe your wife should have ready access to any of your business-related communications. If that means a separate computer, business email account, phone, etc.: So be it.

Otherwise, if you're going to use the same devices, email account, etc. for both business and professional use: Do something like I did: Prohibit her access to those things except in the event of your untimely demise.

In my case I'd put the phone unlock code in with my digital keyring pass phrase in that envelope in the safe. I would trust she wouldn't do something like try to steam the envelope open to get to them unbeknownst to me

Simply, yes. Not that she would know where to look for sensitive information, but, like ensigmatic, I have recorded access secrets, etc. on a paper that lives in the safe. This is to ease her tasks should I suddenly drop dead, etc. She would still have a hard time dealing with certain further protections I have employed over the years, not understanding which password might be appropriate to access which function.

But, the bottom line is, I am not worried about what she knows about me. This is what it means to have a good wife.

My wife can access my phone, but does she?

There’s really no reason she would need to, but if she had to she could.

I always love those joint Facebook accounts out there, now that screams trust issues to me.

Yes to both. She doesn't use my computer or laptop rather spends time on her iPad.

Yes she has access, but doesn't really need to or want to. My phone is a cell phone, not a smart phone, she has zero need of using it since she has a smart one. She has two of her own computers (work and personal) and I have several computers as well. She can access two of them, knows the passcodes, but never uses them for her stuff.

My wife has my passwords/PINs.

Yes to both.
We share a desktop. She was a tekkie for her Fed employer for years.

My phone is Android, hers Apple. Enough different she pretends she can't even turn mine on let alone answer a phone call, despite repeated demonstrations how to use it.

Long retired, we have only personal interest matters on our individual phones & absolutely zero financial apps.