Digital Assets and Accounts – Will your loved ones be able to access them after your death?

In addition to physical assets, nearly all of us now have some kind of digital footprint. This usually includes email or social media accounts, retail subscriptions, photographs or music stored on electronic devices, but may extend to digital assets with monetary value, such as cryptocurrency (i.e. bitcoin).

So have you thought about what happens to these accounts after your death? It is important that you give this some consideration because executors named in your Will, close relatives or trusted friends are not automatically able to access these accounts, and it could mean the loss of treasured memories or the monetary value of a digital asset.

Here we look at the types of assets you may have and what you can do to protect them.

Digital assets include digital documents, content, and other relevant digital data currently in circulation or stored on digital appliances, such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, data storage devices, and mobile phones.

Below are some common examples and important factors to think about when planning what happens to your digital assets and how loved ones can access them:

• Social media accounts – pictures and posts which may not be stored anywhere else
• Email accounts – Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and others, which might hold many years of email and data
• Online music accounts – music libraries which you own but are only stored online
• Blogs and websites – pictures and posts, but websites might also be earning income
• Online shopping or other retail sites – potentially containing loyalty points, credit balances or other value
• Research sites – is that Ancestry family tree, which took years to create, saved down somewhere?
• Newspapers, magazines and other media sites – with subscriptions with time to run
• Banking and Insurance sites – can your family access your house or car insurance if they are entirely online?
• Software and gaming sites – these may have large game libraries purchased over many years
• Family safety sites – can your family access parental controls or location information for their devices?
• Online security – for example, security subscriptions for your PCs or phones

Digital assets also include items that have a monetary value but are stored in a digital format rather than as money in cash or a normal bank account, for example:

• Convertible virtual currencies – assets which are readily exchangeable for “normal” currency
• Cryptocurrencies – such as Bitcoin or Ether are a form of convertible virtual currency which are usually stored in a private digital wallet or on an exchange
• Funds in online trading apps or investment portfolios – these might not be held in UK institutions and could be hard to access without login details

With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies as an “investment,” this is becoming an increasingly important question. Many people treat digital assets much like money in a traditional bank account. The key difference, however, is that cryptocurrency holdings are largely unregulated, meaning the familiar processes for handling death and probate that you’d expect from a high street bank simply don’t exist.

If you hold a digital asset with monetary value, such as cryptocurrency, it is typically stored either in a private wallet on your computer or through an account with a cryptocurrency exchange. It is essential that the person responsible for managing your estate after your death knows how to access your private key. Without this information, the funds cannot be reached, and due to strict privacy measures, there is no alternative way of retrieving the key.

Naturally, great care must be taken when deciding how to share or pass on access to your private keys, since they provide direct control over your cryptocurrency holdings.

This is an issue that generally needs to be managed in one of two ways. Larger service providers often have procedures in place for dealing with the accounts of deceased users. These may allow for data to be downloaded, accounts to be closed, profiles to be “memorialised,” or even kept active for a period of time under managed control. For smaller platforms or services without such systems, the practical solution may be to maintain a secure record of your websites, usernames, and passwords. This ensures your executors can access and manage the accounts when required.

Email accounts – Some email providers, such as Google (Gmail) allow you to appoint an inactive account manager, who will be able to deal with your account upon your death. Others, such as Yahoo, allow anyone to request closure of the account upon production of required documentation. You should check the requirements of your own email account provider and take whatever action you are able to, to make life easier for those who will be dealing with your estate after your death.

Social Media accounts – Services such as Facebook, Instagram and X allow you to report a death and each have their own process. Some allow an account to be “memorialised” (leaving it visible but essentially freezing any further activity) while others will shut the account down in an organised fashion. If you have social media accounts, you should find out what options are available for handling your account in the event of your death.

Retail/Subscription Services – Apple, allow users to appoint a legacy contact who will be able to access their account after death. Whereas Amazon and PayPal have a dedicated bereavement support team to assist with closing an account. For any others, it is advisable to establish what their policies are.

We’re here to help you identify your digital assets and discuss how you can protect them in your Will. This helps prevent any digital currencies or other online accounts from being lost after you pass away. Get in touch with our specialist team of Will writers to book a free 30-minute consultation.

Tel:      01245 893400 | 01702 410880
Email: info@backhouse-solicitors.co.uk
Visit our Chelmsford office: 17 Duke Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1JU
Visit our Leigh-on-Sea office: 22-24 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 1SN
Or send us a message through the Contact Us page on this website