Digital assets and death

By Steve Bish MSWW FInstPa CILEx

People are increasingly leaving a digital legacy after their death, as well as digital assets. Today at S Bish Estate Planning we take a look at how to deal with the digital aspects of an estate.

Research has revealed that only a quarter of people know what will happen to their digital assets after their death or why it is important to include them in their Will.

In a recent survey by the Law Society of over 1,000 adults, asking questions about whether they had made a Will. Just 29% of those questioned had an up to date Will. Of those with a Will, 93% had not included any provision for their digital assets.

Just over a quarter knew what would happen to their digital assets when they die with 7% saying that they fully understood and 19% saying they somewhat understood.

Digital assets include online accounts, cryptocurrencies, domain names and web content.

They also include items that will be valuable to loved ones, such as photos, emails and social media account content, which might be better thought of as a digital presence, rather than digital assets.

Dealing with someone’s online presence and digital matters after they have gone can be daunting. It is often difficult to identify exactly what they had and to legally access and transfer assets and other holdings.

With the digital world still relatively new, organisations are only starting to properly deal with the question of how personal representatives can access and manage different aspects of a digital holding.

Those left behind would often like to have digital mementoes, such as photos and video from social media accounts, films and music that has been collected and also a way to communicate with online connections that the deceased had built up.

Digital assets, such as cryptocurrency holdings and NFTs can also pose a problem for estate executors and administrators, who will have an obligation to encash these and pass on the value in accordance with the deceased’s Will or, if they did not leave a Will, the Rules of Intestacy.

Companies such as Apple have refused to unlock phones and other devices, so if the deceased has not authorised anyone else to have access or left a passcode, you may have to accept that you will not be able to access this area of their life.

Executors and administrators should also be aware that it is often an offence to access someone else’s account, even if they have been given the passcode.

Social media platforms will sometimes allow an account to be memorialised, although certain sites will delete an account if they are informed of a death, so you are advised to copy any information that you want as soon as possible.

To enable cryptocurrency to be sold or transferred after death the deceased will need to leave the necessary access information to someone. If they have not done this, then the currency is likely to be unattainable as security is strict and it is simply not possible to access without the correct passwords.

The first step is to make a list of all of your digital assets and also your online accounts, to include social media accounts.

You can make a list of your passwords to keep with your Will, but no sensitive information should be included in the Will itself, as this is likely to be published one day and will therefore be available to the public.

By leaving your passwords, your family will be able to access documents that may be stored online as well as important emails, to include correspondence from financial institutions that you have dealt with on a paper-free basis.

They will also be able to access photos and other personal items that could be comforting for them to have in the future.

You should be aware that some digital items are only held on licence, such as books and music, and when someone dies, they cannot be passed on.

Once you have listed your digital assets, you should decide what you would like to happen to them. Some social media accounts can be memorialised after a death, or you may simply want your account deleted once your family have had a chance to copy any photos they want to keep.

It is important to set out clear instructions and not to assume that your family will know what accounts you have.

By leaving a Will, you can be sure that your loved ones will benefit from your estate in the way that you would want in the future. You can set out who you would like to receive your digital assets or how you would like them to be dealt with.

It is important to consider your digital legacy when making a Will and ensure that you have adequately dealt with all of your assets. It is also crucial to ensure that your executors are made aware of all of your digital holdings as well as how you would like them to be dealt with.

By leaving a clear Will, you can also avoid disputes and misunderstandings arising between your loved ones when the time comes, as everyone will be clear what your wishes were.

It is also important to review your Will regularly, particularly the digital provisions, as these are likely to change over time. A good rule of thumb is to review a Will every five years or in the light of any major life changes such as divorce or the birth of a child.

If you would like to speak to one of our experts, call us on 01727 220930 or email us at contact@sbishestateplanning.com