Dead in Real Life, Still Alive Online?

Not to ruin a nice, almost-summer day with issues of mortality, but someday you're going to die. And now that everyone from your dog to your great Aunt Judy has Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts, you'll have an online legacy to worry about as well as wishing you'd shredded those private documents and tossed out your crusty drawers.

And now a whole range of services have popped up to help ease your transition to that big social network in the sky, like Legacy Locker, which allows you to store all of your online information in one place (for $30 a year or $300 for a lifetime license), to be passed on to your next of kin when you die. There's also a service called Deathswitch that will automatically send out virtual death notices and passwords to e-mail addresses specified by the user, and the site Slightly Morbid lets loved ones log in to notify friends of someone's passing.

Not sure if they're worth the investment? After the jump, we investigate what really happens to your online persona after you die.

When Gamers Are Gone
Let's say you die suddenly -- who's going to notify your fellow World of Warcraft players?

WoW's publisher, Blizzard Entertainment, will actually transfer ownership of an account to an immediate family member upon proof of death (find out how to notify them here), and the community can even host virtual funerals. (Just hope it doesn't get crashed and achieve YouTube immortality.)

Virtual community Second Life also holds funerals and even started a Second Life Day of Remembrance honoring members who have passed. But can you get into your loved one's account after he dies?

There's a veiled section in the site's Terms of Service that says it "will not unreasonably withhold consent to the transfer of an Account in good standing by operation of valid written will to a single natural person, provided that proper notice and documentation are delivered as requested." So basically, if you can provide proof of death, you're in.

Your Space Forever?
Facebook can memorialize a person's account so friends can post condolences, but it removes "certain more sensitive information like status updates." Or they can close the account all together. They can't, however, provide log-in information for the user's account to anyone.

As for MySpace, policy stipulates that they can remove the deceased's account "upon receiving proof of death, such as an obituary," a spokesman said in an e-mail. But they also won't relinquish the account to anyone other than the person who initially established it, nor can they edit or add any content to the profile (like a note saying you're no longer with us). And creepy sites like MyDeathSpace.com cast a voyeuristic light on the social networking profiles of the deceased.

The Eternal E-mail Address
Did you know when you made "Iluvubritney" your master AIM name in high school that it would exist, well, forever? Yup, you can't delete primary AIM screen names. And the only way you can remove other screen names a dead loved one may have created is by logging in under the master name.

When it comes to e-mail, a Yahoo! account is "non-transferable and any rights to its content terminate on the user's death," according to a spokesman there. And Gmail and Hotmail require executors to send copies of the death certificate and the will to their headquarters.

In general, unless there's power of attorney, "It would be expensive and time consuming for even an administrator or executor [of a will] to get access [to passwords]," says John Dozier, principal of the Glen Allen, Va., firm Dozier Internet Law.

Tell us: What do you want to happen to your online life when you die?