What Happens to Your Digital Assets When You Die?
Your family may know where you keep your important paperwork, but would they know where to find the photos stored on your phone? Could they identify an online savings account, access files needed for a business, or find out what you wanted to happen to your social media profiles?
Much of everyday life now takes place online. We store memories in cloud accounts, manage money through apps and pay for services without receiving a paper statement. That convenience can make it harder for someone else to work out what exists when we die.
Planning for your digital assets does not mean handing your family every password. It means understanding what you have, deciding what you want to happen to it and making sure the right people can find the information they need. For anyone preparing or reviewing a will, it is a sensible part of the wider estate planning conversation.
What counts as a digital asset?
The phrase digital assets covers several different things. Some have a clear financial value, such as cryptocurrency, an online business or money held in an account accessed through an app. Others matter because of the information or memories they contain: family photographs, videos, emails, documents and creative work.
Then there are online accounts themselves. A social media profile, music subscription or email account may be important to your family, but having an account does not necessarily mean you own or can pass on everything associated with it. The provider’s terms and its process for handling a death can affect what another person is allowed to access.
That distinction matters. Leaving a valuable asset to someone in your will and arranging for them to reach the account where it is held are related tasks, but they are not the same task. If nobody knows an asset exists, even carefully written instructions may be difficult to carry out.
Do digital assets form part of your estate?
Some do. HMRC’s guidance on valuing an estate specifically includes cryptoassets among the assets that may need to be identified and valued after a death. An executor dealing with an estate needs enough information to discover holdings like these and obtain appropriate advice about their value and administration.
An online account is a different matter. Paying for digital books, films or music, for example, does not automatically mean a relative can take over the account or inherit every purchase in the way they might inherit a physical collection. Access to stored photographs or emails can also depend on the provider’s rules and any arrangements you made while alive.
A useful starting point is to separate what you own, what you are licensed to use and what you simply want your family to preserve or close. You do not need to resolve every technical detail yourself, but identifying these categories helps you ask better questions when making your estate plan.
Can your will deal with your online life?
A will can set out who should receive assets that you are able to leave and appoint the executors responsible for administering your estate. If digital property has substantial value, such as a business website or cryptoassets, it is particularly important to discuss it when arranging your will writing.
Your will alone cannot guarantee access to every online account. Providers may require their own forms, evidence of death or a specific account setting completed in advance. It is therefore helpful to make a separate, regularly updated record of your accounts and wishes alongside your formal estate planning documents.
That record can explain which services you use, whether an account contains something valuable or sentimental, and whom your executors should approach. It can also say whether you would prefer family photos to be saved or a social media profile to be closed, where the provider offers those options.
Keep sensitive login information out of a will. A will may need to be shared during estate administration, while passwords and recovery details require tighter protection. Ask for advice on a secure way to store any information that someone will genuinely need.
What can you arrange with account providers now?
Some providers offer tools that let you make choices in advance. Apple’s Legacy Contact guidance explains how to nominate someone to request access to certain Apple Account data after your death. That person needs an access key and a death certificate. Apple also makes clear that the arrangement does not provide access to everything, including passwords held in iCloud Keychain and some purchased content.
Google offers an Inactive Account Manager. You can choose people to notify or share selected account data with after your account has been inactive for a period you specify. It is an inactivity arrangement, so you should consider whether the timing and information selected reflect what you actually want.
These examples show why it is worth checking the settings for accounts you use most. Each service has its own rules, and features can change. Make sure the people you nominate know what you have arranged, then review those settings when you change devices, email addresses or trusted contacts.
How do you make a useful digital asset record?
Start with the accounts your family would struggle to find or deal with. Think about where you store photographs and documents, which email address receives financial correspondence, and whether you run a website, hold cryptocurrency or earn income through an online platform.
A useful record identifies the provider and the account, explains why it matters and says what you would like someone to do. It might tell your executor where to find statements for an investment account or tell a relative which cloud library contains family photographs. It should also identify any provider-specific arrangements, such as a Legacy Contact, and where the necessary access key has been kept.
For cryptocurrency, knowing that an investment exists is only the beginning. How it is held affects what information may be needed to recover it. A holding on an exchange and one controlled through a private wallet can present very different practical problems. Because recovery information may give someone control over the asset, obtain appropriate advice on keeping it secure and accessible to the right person.
You can review this record more easily than a will whenever you open or close an account. Make sure your executor knows where to find it, without leaving it somewhere that exposes your accounts to anyone else.
Why should you keep paper documents in the plan too?
Digital planning works best when it connects to the rest of your estate. Your executor may need your original will, details of financial assets and records explaining whom to contact. A list of online accounts is less useful if nobody knows where the legal documents are; equally, a well-drafted will cannot identify an account your family has never heard of.
Complete Estate Protection offers secure document storage for important documents such as wills and powers of attorney. When considering storage, think about how your executor will locate the original documents and how you will keep your separate digital account record current. The two should support each other, even if sensitive account information is stored separately.
It also helps to speak to the people who may eventually deal with your affairs. Someone named as an executor does not need access to all your personal information today, but they should know where to begin. If you have not yet chosen one, read our advice on choosing the right executor.
What if you need help managing accounts during your lifetime?
Planning for death is only one part of the picture. Illness or injury could leave you unable to manage bills, investments or other affairs while you are still alive. A Lasting Power of Attorney can allow someone you choose to make decisions within the authority granted by that document.
It does not replace your will or a provider’s account access process. A lasting power of attorney also normally ends when the person who made it dies. After death, the executor or other person legally entitled to administer the estate takes on the relevant responsibilities. Thinking about these different stages can prevent a family member from assuming that permission to help you now will automatically continue later.
What should your family do if no digital plan was left?
If someone has already died without leaving account instructions, start by locating their will and identifying the person responsible for the estate. Look through available paperwork for references to banks, investments, subscriptions and online services. Keep a record of what you find and avoid assuming that knowing a password gives you authority to use an account.
Contact the relevant provider to ask about its process for a deceased customer. Its requirements may depend on the account and the action requested, such as obtaining information, closing a profile or dealing with money held there. Google, for example, provides a request process concerning a deceased user’s account, while also recommending that account holders make their own arrangements in advance.
Where online holdings form part of an estate, they should be considered alongside other property and liabilities. Families unsure where to start can seek help with probate and estate administration rather than trying to resolve every account separately.
Make your wishes easier to follow
Digital assets are easy to overlook because they are rarely kept in one place. A little preparation can spare your family a search through devices, paperwork and unfamiliar services at an already difficult time.
Begin with an account record, check the tools offered by the providers you use and make sure your will reflects any digital assets with financial value. Then review the arrangements whenever your accounts or circumstances change.
Complete Estate Protection helps families across Middlesbrough and the surrounding area plan for what matters to them. If you would like to discuss your will and the wider arrangements your loved ones may need, speak to the team at Complete Estate Protection.
