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Preparing Your Artwork Archive Account for the Future: Estate Planning and Account Access

Your legacy matters—and we’re here to help you protect it.

Updated over a week ago

Planning for the future of your collection or art archive is a thoughtful and important step. Whether you're an artist, collector, or steward of an organization’s collection, Artwork Archive provides tools to ensure your account—and the legacy it represents—can be properly managed in the event of your passing.

We’ve broken this guidance into two key areas: account access and estate planning.


🔐 Account Access: Ensuring Someone Can Manage Your Account

It’s important to make sure that a trusted person—such as an executor, family member, or estate manager—can access your account and carry out your wishes.

Here are several options available within your Artwork Archive account:

1. Add a Trusted User

For users on the Artist Master, Collector Premier, and all Organization plans, you can add an additional user to your account. This enables your designated person to log in with their own credentials and manage your archive if needed.

How to do this:

  1. Navigate to the Account tab in your left-side menu

  2. Scroll down to the Logins section

  3. Select the blue text "Add additional user"

2. Upload Instructions Using MyDocs

Use the MyDocs feature (found under Reports/Docs in the left-hand menu) to upload a document that outlines your wishes, including who should manage your account. You can include legal documents, a letter of instruction, or any other relevant information.

3. Reference Us in Your Will

Many users choose to document their wishes in their will. If you go this route, you can include our contact email—info@artworkarchive.com—as a reference. When the time comes, your executor can contact us directly, and we will facilitate account access after verifying the appropriate documentation.


📘 Estate Planning: Organizing and Sharing Your Legacy

In addition to account access, Artwork Archive offers tools specifically designed to support estate planning and the thoughtful transfer of collections.

1. Use Collections to Organize Bequests

The Collections feature allows you to group works according to your future plans. For example, you might create a collection titled “To be donated to Museum X” or “To go to my children” and assign relevant artworks to each.

You can also add descriptive notes and instructions within each collection to provide clarity and context for those managing your estate.

2. Share via Private Rooms

Private Rooms make it easy to securely share selected works or entire collections with family members, institutions, or advisors. Viewers can explore the works, mark favorites, and even ask questions about individual pieces.

This can be an effective way to open up discussions about your intentions during your lifetime or to provide easy access later on.

3. Create a Controlled Public Profile

If you’d like to create a single, accessible page summarizing your collection, you can use your Public Profile in Private Mode. This allows you to share a password-protected link to a webpage featuring your collection’s highlights, artist bios, provenance details, and more—perfect for legacy planning or institutional review.

4. Store Important Documents with MyDocs

Beyond account instructions, the MyDocs section can also be used to store supporting documents related to your collection, such as:

  • Your estate plan

  • Insurance records

  • Appraisals

  • Contact information for your attorney or executor

This creates a centralized resource for your heirs or administrators when they need it most.


Final Thoughts

Taking time now to prepare your account ensures that your collection is preserved, understood, and transferred according to your wishes. If you have any questions or need help setting up these features, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at info@artworkarchive.com.

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