Quick question: If something happened to you tomorrow, would your family be able to access your email? Your photos stored in the cloud? Your cryptocurrency? Your social media accounts?
For most people, the honest answer is no. And that’s a problem.
We live increasingly digital lives. Yet when it comes to estate planning, most of us still think only about physical assets—the house, the car, the bank accounts. Meanwhile, we’re accumulating digital assets that have real financial and sentimental value, and no plan for what happens to them when we’re gone.
What Are Digital Assets, Exactly?
Digital assets include anything you own or control that exists in electronic form. The list is probably longer than you think:
Financial Digital Assets
- Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.)
- Online banking and investment accounts
- PayPal, Venmo, and other payment accounts
- Rewards points and airline miles (these can be worth thousands)
- Domain names and websites you own
- Digital businesses (online stores, affiliate sites, etc.)
Personal Digital Assets
- Email accounts (often the key to everything else)
- Photos and videos stored in cloud services
- Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Music and video libraries (iTunes, Amazon, etc.)
- E-books and digital subscriptions
- Gaming accounts with purchased content
Business Digital Assets
- Client databases and CRM systems
- Intellectual property (digital files, designs, code)
- Business software accounts
- Online reputation and reviews
Here’s what surprises most people: you might not actually “own” some of these assets the way you think you do. Many digital services are licensed, not owned. When you “buy” an e-book on Amazon, you’re really purchasing a license to read it—and that license often can’t be transferred to heirs.
Why Digital Asset Planning Matters
Without proper planning, your digital assets face several risks:
Lost Forever
If no one knows your passwords, your family may never be able to access precious photos, important documents, or accounts with real value. I’ve seen families lose decades of photos because they couldn’t access a deceased loved one’s iCloud account.
Financially Inaccessible
Cryptocurrency without the private keys is essentially gone forever. There’s an estimated $140 billion in Bitcoin alone that’s been lost because owners died without sharing access information. Online accounts with real money—PayPal balances, investment accounts, rewards points—can be extremely difficult to recover.
An estimated $140 billion in Bitcoin has been lost forever because owners died without sharing access information.
Identity Theft Risk
Dormant accounts are prime targets for hackers. If no one is monitoring your digital presence after you pass, criminals can hijack your identity, access financial accounts, or use your social media for scams. I’ve seen cases where hackers accessed deceased persons’ accounts to send phishing messages to their contacts.
Emotional Burden on Family
Imagine your family trying to close out your digital life while grieving. They don’t know what accounts you have. They don’t have passwords. They’re dealing with customer service departments that (rightfully) won’t give access to someone who can’t prove authorization. It’s frustrating, time-consuming, and adds stress during an already difficult time.
The Legal Landscape
Here’s something important: federal law actually makes it a crime to access someone else’s accounts without authorization—even if that someone is your deceased spouse or parent. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act wasn’t written with estate planning in mind, but it applies.
The good news is that most states, including Utah, Arizona, and Texas, have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). This law gives fiduciaries (executors, trustees, agents under power of attorney) the legal authority to access digital assets—but only if you’ve properly granted that access.
Without explicit authorization in your estate planning documents, your family may face an uphill battle getting access to your digital life.
5 Steps to Protect Your Digital Assets
1. Create a Complete Digital Asset Inventory
Start by listing every digital account and asset you have. Include:
- Account name and website
- Username/email associated with the account
- What the account contains or its value
- Whether it has financial value, sentimental value, or both
Don’t include passwords in this inventory—we’ll handle those separately. The goal here is to create a comprehensive list so your family knows what exists.
2. Use a Password Manager
A password manager (like 1Password, LastPass, or Bitwarden) stores all your passwords securely behind one master password. This solves the security problem of writing passwords down while ensuring your designated person can access everything with a single credential.
Critical: Make sure your executor or trusted person knows the master password exists and can access it when needed. Some password managers have emergency access features specifically for this purpose.
3. Update Your Estate Planning Documents
Your will, trust, and power of attorney should explicitly address digital assets. Specifically:
- Grant authority to access, manage, and distribute digital assets
- Name a digital executor (this can be the same as your regular executor or someone more tech-savvy)
- Provide instructions for what should happen to specific accounts (delete, memorialize, transfer, etc.)
- Reference your digital asset inventory and password manager
Your digital life is a real part of your legacy. Don’t leave your family locked out.
4. Set Up Platform-Specific Tools
Many platforms now offer their own legacy planning tools:
- Google Inactive Account Manager lets you decide what happens to your Gmail, photos, and other Google data after a period of inactivity
- Facebook Legacy Contact designates someone to manage your memorialized profile
- Apple Digital Legacy allows you to add legacy contacts who can access your Apple account data
- Instagram Memorialization Request lets family request account memorialization
Take 30 minutes to set up these features on your major accounts. It’s free and makes things much easier for your family.
5. Don’t Forget About Cryptocurrency
If you own cryptocurrency, this requires special attention. Your heirs need:
- Private keys or seed phrases (without these, the crypto is gone forever)
- Instructions on how to access wallets
- Information about which exchanges you use
- Guidance on what to do with the assets
Consider working with an attorney who understands cryptocurrency to ensure this is handled properly. The stakes are too high to get wrong.
What to Do With Each Type of Account
As part of your planning, decide what should happen to each account:
- Delete: Accounts with no lasting value (streaming services, shopping accounts)
- Transfer: Accounts with financial value (cryptocurrency, domain names, online businesses)
- Memorialize: Social media accounts you want preserved as a memorial
- Archive: Photos, documents, and other content with sentimental value
Having these decisions made in advance removes the burden from your family and ensures your wishes are followed.
Start Today
Digital asset planning isn’t complicated, but it does require action. Start with the inventory—that alone will give you clarity on what you’re dealing with. Then work with an estate planning attorney to ensure your documents properly address digital assets.
Your digital life is a real part of your legacy. Photos that capture family memories. Messages that preserve relationships. Assets with real financial value. Don’t leave your family locked out of these important parts of who you were.
Need help incorporating digital assets into your estate plan? I work with clients in Utah, Arizona, and Texas to create comprehensive plans that address both traditional and digital assets. Schedule a consultation and let’s make sure nothing gets left behind.
