When and how your clinical executor gets access

At a Glance

Nominating an executor gives them nothing; access only opens after they formally request it and a waiting period you chose has passed, during which you are told repeatedly and can stop it with one click.

Before you start

This covers what happens after a clinical will exists. If you have not set one up yet, start with Setting up your clinical will in TherapyLock, which walks through nominating your colleague and the invitation they accept.

While you are practising, they have nothing

Accepting a nomination gives your executor no sight of your records. Not your client list, not your appointments, not a name. They hold a nomination and nothing else, for as long as nothing happens.

This is worth saying plainly because it is the thing practitioners most often assume works the other way round.

How access is requested

From their own dashboard, your executor clicks Request access. They have to type a declaration explaining why they believe you cannot manage your practice, and confirm that they understand you will be told immediately.

That starts the waiting period you chose when you set your clinical will up: 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, which is the default, or 7 days.

What you are told, and how to stop it

During the waiting period TherapyLock contacts you at the moment of the request, halfway through, 24 hours before access opens, an hour before, and again on activation. Those go to your main email address, to a second address if you added one, and to a banner that appears on every page of the app reading that your executor has requested access.

From the Clinical Will card under My Account you then have two buttons:

• Cancel this request stops it. Your executor is told, and nothing opens
• Approve now opens access immediately, for when you would rather not wait out the countdown

You can also use Revoke access at any time, including after access has opened. Your executor is signed out and notified, and any wind-down they had started stops with it.

What is not checked

There is no documentary verification. TherapyLock does not ask your executor for a death certificate or a medical letter, and would have no way to judge one.

What stands in its place is the Executor Undertaking they signed when they accepted the role, the written declaration they give when requesting access, the waiting period, and your ability to cancel. The reasoning is practical: a certificate cannot be produced quickly enough to be useful in a real emergency, and a practitioner who has died cannot object to anything. The delay and the alerts are the safeguard.

Their own account, and what is logged

Your executor never uses your login. If they do not already have a TherapyLock account, accepting your invitation creates one for them, and two-step verification is set up as the final step of accepting, so it is done calmly in advance rather than on the worst possible day.

Everything they do is recorded on your Clinical Will page: every sign-in, every client record, note or document opened, every export, every amendment added, every appointment cancelled, and the wind-down itself. Each entry shows who, when, and which client reference was touched, never the clinical content.

What happens once access is live

They can read your records, add an amendment to a note, cancel upcoming appointments, export, and close the practice down. They cannot edit or delete anything you wrote. Setting up your clinical will in TherapyLock covers the full list.

Winding down is the first thing they should do, not the last. No further subscription payments are taken, the account moves to read-only, and nothing is deleted. The 90-day window that follows an ordinary cancellation never applies to an account with a nominated executor, so there is no clock running while your estate is dealt with, and no payment is needed to keep your records available.

If something's not right

• Your executor says the request was refused. Only one executor can hold a request or active access at a time. If your other executor already has one, theirs is blocked until that is cancelled or revoked
• You missed the emails. Add a second notification email on the Clinical Will card. The in-app banner shows on every page regardless
• You keep client names outside TherapyLock. Your executor can read the notes without knowing who to contact. Write into your clinical will document where your key list is kept and who can release it

Related articles

• Setting it up in the first place — Setting up your clinical will in TherapyLock
• Keeping names outside the app — Your key list: where the real names live
• Why the records are not deleted — Why there are no name or date of birth fields

Still Need Help?

If you have any other questions about TherapyLock, our support team is here to help.

Email us at support@counsellingtutor.com and we will be happy to assist.