Most people have a digital facet to their life. Digital assets include e-mail accounts, social media accounts, online banking accounts, online shopping accounts, domain names owned, blogs, digital photos and cryptocurrencies. Within each digital platform, there is a smorgasbord of variation in terms & conditions of service and transfer of ownership.  

For the most part, many of your digital assets are not assets at all but are licenses that end upon your death with no right of survivorship. An example can be found in the terms of Apple iCloud (which is embedded into every Apple device to store photos, files, music, documents), stating “unless otherwise required by law you agree that your account is non-transferrable and that any rights to your Apple ID and content within your account terminate upon your death.” 

If the provider of digital assets does not expressly delineate the right of survivorship, it may still be very difficult to gain access to these assets as providers are reluctant to grant access to accounts because of fear of violating confidentiality and federal privacy requirements. 

One area where ownership rights are clearer is cryptocurrencies. These assets will remain available after death and can be passed on; however, the contents of the wallet can only be accessed via a private key. If you die and have not provided access to the private key to your executor, the assets will be lost.

While more and more of the things we value in life are now digital, very few people have made preparations for what will happen to these digital assets when they die. A recent survey conducted by The Digital Legacy Association showed that 79% of those polled had not made any plans for their digital assets.  

Imagine if you died today and your loved ones were unable to get to anything online in your name – what would they be unable to access? Bank information (statements) only sent to your e-mail? Photos uploaded to Facebook? Blog postings? 

Be deliberate with your digital assets

• List all online accounts
• Establish a digital will providing specific authorization (consent) for e-mails, social media messages, photos, etc. The Digital Legacy Association has free templates available to assist in this process https://digitallegacyassociation.org/social-media-will-template/ (note: legal experts point out a digital will is a statement of wishes rather than a legally binding document)
• Passwords are key to helping executors and relatives manage your estate after your death. Password managers such as Last Pass, Sticky Password, Dashlane and 1Password will encrypt and store logins so you only have to remember one password. These companies use software that encrypts the master password and stores it only on your devices, so even if the password management company is hacked, your account would be safe.

As with all other assets, organization and advanced preparation will greatly relieve the stress and burden on your family in locating and gaining access to your digital accounts.