When people hear “digital assets,” many think of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is one kind, but the term covers much more: your email, photos, online accounts, devices, and the many parts of your life that now exist only online. This article explains what digital assets are and how to make sure the right people can find and manage them.
Why this matters
Digital assets can have real financial value, such as an online business, a valuable domain name, or cryptocurrency. They can also hold some of your most personal memories, in photos, videos, and messages your family may want to keep.
They matter in practical ways, too. Many bills are paid online, many statements arrive only by email, and some accounts would never be found without a list. If no one can get into your accounts, your family may lose access to money, memories, and records they need.
What counts as a digital asset
Digital assets include:
- Email accounts, personal and work
- Phones, tablets, computers, and the files stored on them
- Photos, videos, and documents stored online
- Online banking, investment, shopping, and payment accounts
- Social media profiles, websites, blogs, and domain names
- Cryptocurrency and other digital currency
- Rewards points, airline miles, and digital purchases such as music or e-books
- Rights to content you created, such as writing, music, or photographs
Who can get into your accounts
Washington and Oregon follow the same law on who can access your digital accounts after you die or if you cannot act. It sets an order of priority, and it often surprises people:
- The company’s own online tool comes first. Many companies let you choose who can access your account, or whether it is deleted. Examples include Google’s Inactive Account Manager, Apple’s Legacy Contact, and Facebook’s legacy contact. A choice you make there overrides your Will or Revocable Trust.
- Your estate planning documents come next. If you have not used an online tool, your Will, Revocable Trust, or power of attorney can give the people you name access. Without your express permission, they usually cannot see the content of your emails, texts, or messages.
- The company’s terms of service come last. If you have done neither, the company’s own rules decide, and they often refuse access.
That is why the steps below include both your documents and the settings on your main accounts.
Steps to take
A few practical steps make a large difference for the people who will handle your affairs.
Make an inventory
Start with a list of your accounts and devices. As you build it, think through each of these groups:
- Email accounts, which are often the key to resetting every other password
- Phones, tablets, and computers, with the passcode or how to unlock them
- Banking, investment, retirement, and payment apps such as PayPal or Venmo
- Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets
- Bills and automatic payments, such as utilities, mortgage, insurance, and credit cards
- Subscriptions and memberships your family may need to cancel
- Photo, video, and cloud storage accounts
- Social media accounts
- Online businesses, websites, and domain names
- Rewards programs and airline miles
- Health portals and government accounts, such as Social Security
Many accounts now send a code to your phone before anyone can log in. Note which accounts do, because the person handling your affairs may also need access to your phone or another way to receive those codes.
Use a password manager
A password manager is the easiest way to keep this inventory secure and current. It stores your logins in one encrypted place, and many offer an emergency access feature that lets you name someone to receive access later. If you do not already use one, it is worth setting one up as part of your estate plan.
Be cautious about handing over passwords. Logging in as someone else can break a company’s rules, even with permission. The online tools and your documents are the more reliable ways to give someone access. Never put passwords in your Will, which can become a public record.
Set up legacy and inactive-account tools
On your main accounts, such as email, phone, photos, and social media, check whether the company offers a legacy or inactive-account setting. Because these settings come first, make sure they match the wishes in your estate plan.
Include digital assets in your documents
Your attorney can include language in your Will, Revocable Trust, and financial power of attorney giving the people you name authority over your digital assets. If you wish, that can include the content of your emails and messages.
Keep it current
Update your inventory and settings when you open or close accounts, change devices, or change your mind about who should have access. Let the people you name know where to find your list.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency needs extra care, because it can be lost for good if no one can reach it. A few points help:
- Know how it is held. Cryptocurrency held at an exchange, such as Coinbase, sits in an account, and the exchange has a process for a deceased owner’s estate. Cryptocurrency held in your own wallet can be reached only with its private key or recovery phrase.
- Record where the keys are, not the keys themselves. If the private key or recovery phrase is lost, the cryptocurrency is gone permanently. Keep it somewhere secure, and record where it is kept rather than writing it in your Will.
- Tell someone it exists. Families often never learn that cryptocurrency exists. List it in your inventory, with each exchange or wallet.
- Give your fiduciaries authority to manage it. Cryptocurrency can change in value quickly. Your attorney can include language that lets your Personal Representative or Trustee hold, manage, or sell it.
- It is treated like other property for tax. Like stocks, cryptocurrency you own at death generally gets a new income tax basis equal to its value at death.
Want to read more?
These articles are optional.
- Duties of the people you name: What your fiduciaries must do. See this article.
- Will or Revocable Trust: Choosing the core document for your plan. See this article for Washington or for Oregon.
- Questionnaire help: If you are filling in the questionnaire, see the help for the Asset Details page for Washington or for Oregon.
- Glossary: Common estate planning terms. See this article.