Twenty years ago, settling someone’s estate meant going through file cabinets, mail, and a Rolodex. Today it means hunting through 200+ online accounts, hoping to find passwords, decrypting devices, and trying to convince Google and Apple to release a deceased user’s data. Most estate plans haven’t caught up. A digital-asset estate plan is the inventory and access plan that makes the rest possible — without it, your executor may be locked out of the accounts that hold your money, your photos, your business, and your memories.
What Counts as a Digital Asset
- Financial accounts with online-only access — online banks, brokerages, crypto exchanges, PayPal/Venmo balances, robo-advisors, online-only credit cards
- Cryptocurrency and digital wallets — on exchanges (Coinbase, Kraken) or in self-custody (hardware wallets, software wallets). Without the seed phrase or password, self-custody crypto is permanently lost
- Email accounts — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo. The hub for password resets on every other account; usually the executor’s first target
- Cloud storage with photos and documents — iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive. May hold the only copies of decades of family photos
- Social media — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, TikTok. Mostly memorial value, but accounts can be hijacked if not handled
- Subscription services — Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, gym memberships, software licenses. Mostly to cancel and stop the charges
- Domain names and websites — can have real value if monetized; need transfer to executor
- Business assets — QuickBooks files, Stripe accounts, Shopify stores, customer lists, hosted code, intellectual property
- Loyalty programs and gift card balances — airline miles, hotel points, Amazon balances, gift cards. Most have restrictive transfer policies but some can be claimed by an estate
- Devices themselves — phones, laptops, tablets. Encrypted by default; without the device password (and sometimes the iCloud/Google password), they’re mostly bricks
The Legal Layer (RUFADAA)
Most U.S. states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which sets the order of priority for who controls a deceased person’s digital accounts:
- The service’s own “online tool” if you set one up — Google’s Inactive Account Manager, Facebook’s Legacy Contact, Apple’s Digital Legacy program. These override your will
- Your will, trust, or POA — if it specifically grants access to digital assets
- The service’s terms of service — the default, often very restrictive (Google won’t hand over a deceased user’s emails without a court order, and may not even then)
Practically: set up the platform-specific tools first (they take 5 minutes and override everything else), and add explicit digital-asset language to your will and POA as a backstop.
The Inventory
The single most useful document you can leave behind. List, for each significant account:
- Account name and service (e.g., “Chase — checking, account ending 4729”)
- What it’s for and approximate value
- Login URL
- How to access — via password manager (with master password access for the executor), via the service’s legacy tool, via written credentials in your safe, via the device that has it cached
- For two-factor authenticated accounts, where the second factor lives (authenticator app on which device, backup codes location, recovery phone number)
Don’t write passwords on the same document as the inventory. Keep them separate — ideally in a password manager whose master password the executor can access through a separate channel (a sealed envelope in your safe, your attorney, a trusted family member).
Password Managers and the “Digital Executor”
A password manager (1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane, LastPass, Apple Passwords) is the most practical tool for digital estate planning:
- Every modern manager has an emergency-access or family-sharing feature that allows a designated person to request access; you get a window to deny if you’re still alive and well; otherwise access is granted
- 1Password and Bitwarden have explicit “emergency kit” or recovery printouts you can store in your safe
- Your executor doesn’t need to be technical — they just need to know which password manager you use, where the emergency kit lives, and how to trigger access
You can also name a separate “digital executor” in your will to handle digital assets specifically. Not all states recognize the title formally, but courts generally honor the named person’s authority when your will is clear about it. The role can go to the same person as your main executor or to a different, more tech-comfortable family member.
Cryptocurrency — The Hardest Part
Crypto held on an exchange (Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini) can usually be claimed by an executor with a death certificate and letters testamentary — the exchange treats it like any other custodial asset.
Crypto in self-custody (a hardware wallet like a Ledger or Trezor, or software wallets like MetaMask or Exodus) is a different problem entirely. Without the seed phrase — the 12 or 24 words used to recover the wallet — the assets are permanently lost. Estimates suggest 20%+ of all Bitcoin in existence is in inaccessible wallets, much of it because of deaths without succession planning.
If you hold self-custody crypto:
- Write the seed phrase on paper or stamped metal (metal survives fire and water); store in a fireproof safe or safe deposit box
- Some people split the seed across two locations (first half here, second half there) for extra security; document the strategy where your executor can find it
- Consider a multi-signature wallet that requires 2 of 3 keys, with keys distributed across yourself, a family member, and your attorney
- Leave clear instructions: which wallet software, where the device is, how the seed restores access
Quick Setup Checklist
- Set up Google Inactive Account Manager — designate trusted contact, set inactive period
- Set up Apple Digital Legacy — add Legacy Contact in iCloud settings
- Set up Facebook Legacy Contact — in settings > memorialization
- If you use a password manager, set up its emergency access feature
- Print the password manager’s emergency recovery kit and store in your fireproof safe
- Write a one-page digital-asset inventory (no passwords on it); store with your will
- If you hold self-custody crypto, store the seed phrase securely and document recovery instructions for your executor
- Add explicit digital-asset language to your will and POA next time they’re updated
- Tell your executor where the inventory, password-manager emergency kit, and crypto recovery materials are
Educational only. Estate-planning laws — including which documents are valid, who can serve as executor or agent, witness and notary requirements, guardianship rules, and how assets pass — vary significantly by state. This article is not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state before drafting or relying on any estate document.