Dear friends,
Platform Overview
Primary Use
Cloud computing, storage, databases, networking, serverless, enterprise infrastructure
Account Types
Individual, Business, Enterprise (Organizations with consolidated billing)
Data Types
EC2 instances, S3 buckets, databases (RDS, DynamoDB), Lambda functions, IAM roles, CloudFormation stacks
Access Challenges
- Root account access requires email and MFA device for recovery
- IAM credentials cannot be recovered without active root access
- MFA devices tied to physical hardware or phone apps expire without owner
- AWS Organizations require management account access for billing and policy control
- Secrets Manager and Parameter Store values cannot be exported in bulk
- Access keys and secret keys cannot be recovered after creation
- Account closure requires active root account access and payment of outstanding bills
- Cross-account resource access breaks without IAM role trust relationships
- Running infrastructure continues incurring costs indefinitely without management
Inheritance Guidance
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Related Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my family access my AWS account after I die?
AWS account access requires root account email, password, and MFA device. Without credentials, accounts are completely inaccessible. Create IAM administrator users for trusted individuals and document credentials securely. Consider AWS Organizations with multiple management account owners for enterprise scenarios.
What happens to running AWS infrastructure and billing?
Running resources continue operating and incurring charges indefinitely. Bills accumulate until payment fails, then AWS suspends services and may delete data. Document all running resources, monthly costs, and shutdown procedures. Configure billing alerts and provide payment method access to prevent service disruption.
How do I hand off AWS enterprise organizations and multi-account setups?
AWS Organizations require management account root access for billing and policy control. Add multiple administrator IAM users to management and member accounts. Document account structure, consolidated billing setup, and cross-account IAM roles. Prepare organizational diagrams showing account relationships and resource dependencies.
What happens to AWS secrets, access keys, and credentials?
AWS secrets cannot be recovered without account access. Access keys expire with IAM user access. Applications depending on credentials will fail. Document all secrets, rotate credentials to organization-managed IAM roles, and configure AWS Secrets Manager with cross-account access for critical applications.