Digital Assets After Death: What Happens to Your Online Accounts When You Die?
When most people think about making a Will, they naturally focus on their house, savings, investments and treasured possessions. However, there is another part of modern life that is becoming just as important to consider – your digital assets.
Whether it’s family photographs stored in the cloud, a PayPal balance, cryptocurrency investments or simply years of emails and social media memories, our digital lives continue long after we’re gone unless we’ve made arrangements for them.
Many people don’t realise that dealing with digital assets can be one of the most difficult parts of administering an estate. Executors are often left trying to discover which online accounts existed, how to access them and whether the assets have any financial value.
If you’re wondering what happens to your online accounts when you die, or whether you should include digital assets in your Will, this guide explains everything you need to know under the law of England and Wales.
What are digital assets?
The term digital assets covers almost anything that exists electronically and has either financial, practical or sentimental value.
Common examples include:
- Email account
- Online banking
- PayPal and other online payment accounts
- Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Ethereum
- Password managers
- Cloud storage including iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox
- Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and other social media accounts
- Digital photographs and videos
- Websites and blogs
- Domain names
- Online businesses
- Reward schemes and loyalty points
- Digital music, films and ebooks
- Online gaming accounts
Some of these assets may be worth thousands of pounds, while others have no monetary value but are priceless to family members.
Why digital estate planning is becoming so important?
Twenty years ago, most important documents were kept in filing cabinets and photo albums.
Today, many people receive paperless bank statements, keep all of their family photographs online and communicate almost entirely through email and messaging apps.
It’s estimated that the average person has well over one hundred online accounts.
Without proper planning, many of these accounts may simply disappear after death, while others could remain active indefinitely, increasing the risk of fraud or identity theft.
This is why digital estate planning is becoming an increasingly important part of making a comprehensive Will.
Can you leave digital assets in your Will?
In many cases, yes.
If your digital assets have financial value, they can usually form part of your estate.
These might include:
- Cryptocurrency
- Online investment accounts
- PayPal balances
- Domain names
- Revenue-generating websites
- Online businesses
- Intellectual property
However, not everything you access online is actually owned by you.
Many digital services are licensed rather than purchased. For example, ebooks, music and films are often provided under personal licence agreements which usually end on death and cannot be inherited.
This is one reason why professional advice can be invaluable when preparing your Will.
What happens to your online accounts when you die?
One of the questions we are asked most frequently is:
“Can my family access my online accounts after I die?”
The simple answer is that it depends.
Every technology company has its own policies.
For example:
Facebook allows accounts to be memorialised after death. You can also nominate a Legacy Contact who can manage limited aspects of your memorialised account.
Google offers an Inactive Account Manager. This allows you to decide what happens to your emails, photographs and files if your account becomes inactive for a chosen period.
Apple
Apple introduced Digital Legacy, enabling nominated individuals to request access to certain data held within an Apple account.
Other providers may permanently delete accounts once they are notified of a death, while some refuse access unless legally required to provide it.
The important point is that your executors do not automatically receive unrestricted access simply because they are administering your estate.
Can executors access email accounts?
This is another question that regularly causes confusion.
Many people assume an executor has the same authority online as they do over bank accounts or property.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Whether an executor can access an email account depends largely on:
- The provider’s terms and conditions.
- Whether the deceased shared their login details during their lifetime.
- Whether the provider offers a legacy or inactive account service.
- The circumstances surrounding the request.
Even if an executor can legally deal with your estate, they may still be unable to log into your email account without the provider’s permission.
For this reason alone, it’s sensible to leave clear instructions about important online accounts.
Can you inherit cryptocurrency in the UK?
Yes.
Cryptocurrency forms part of your estate and can usually be inherited under the terms of your Will.
However, cryptocurrency presents one major challenge that traditional bank accounts do not.
If nobody knows where your digital wallet is held, or if your private keys or recovery phrase are lost, the cryptocurrency may be impossible to recover.
Unlike a bank, there is usually no customer services department that can reset a forgotten password.
Thousands of Bitcoin are believed to have been lost forever simply because their owners died without leaving sufficient information.
If you own cryptocurrency, you should:
- Mention it in your Will.
- Keep secure records of where it is held.
- Store recovery information separately from your Will.
- Ensure your executors know the assets exist.
Never include passwords or recovery phrases inside your Will because, once Probate has been granted, your Will becomes a public document.
Should you include passwords in your Will?
Generally speaking, no.
Although your executors need to know about your online accounts, your Will is not the appropriate place to record passwords or PIN numbers.
Instead, consider:
- Using a reputable password manager.
- Keeping a secure record of important login details.
- Updating the record regularly.
- Telling your executors where this information is stored.
This allows your digital assets to remain secure while ensuring they can eventually be accessed if necessary.
What happens to digital photographs?
For many families, digital photographs become the most valuable inheritance of all.
Unfortunately, they’re also one of the easiest assets to lose.
Images may be spread across:
- Mobile phones
- Tablets
- External hard drives
- Google Photos
- Apple Photos
- Dropbox
If nobody knows where they’re stored, years of family memories can disappear forever.
A simple inventory of your devices and cloud storage accounts can make an enormous difference.
What if you own a website or online business?
More people than ever now earn an income online.
Whether you run:
- A blog
- An online shop
- A YouTube channel
- An Amazon business
- A subscription website
- An affiliate marketing business
these assets may continue generating income after your death.
Equally, they may lose value very quickly if subscriptions lapse or customers cannot access services.
If you own an online business, your Will should clearly identify these assets and provide guidance for your executors wherever possible.
A simple digital estate planning checklist
Preparing your digital estate doesn’t have to be complicated.
Start by asking yourself:
- Have I listed all of my important online accounts?
- Does someone know where my passwords are stored?
- Have I identified valuable digital assets?
- Have I considered what should happen to my social media accounts?
- Have I made arrangements for my cryptocurrency?
- Have I organised my digital photographs?
- Have I reviewed my Will recently?
Spending an hour organising these matters today could save your family many days of unnecessary stress in the future.
Why reviewing your Will matters
Technology changes rapidly.
Ten years ago, very few people owned cryptocurrency or stored every family photograph online.
In another ten years, we’ll almost certainly have new types of digital assets that don’t yet exist.
That’s why your Will shouldn’t be something you write once and forget.
Reviewing it every few years, or whenever your circumstances change, helps ensure it continues to reflect both your financial and digital estate.
Final thoughts
Estate planning is no longer just about houses, bank accounts and jewellery.
Our online lives have become an important part of who we are, containing not only financial assets but also treasured memories, valuable business interests and personal information.
Taking the time to consider what happens to your online accounts when you die, organising your digital assets, and making suitable provision in your Will can make life considerably easier for those you leave behind.
A professionally prepared Will, together with sensible digital estate planning, provides peace of mind that every aspect of your estate, both physical and digital, has been properly considered.
If you’re making a new Will or reviewing an existing one, don’t overlook your digital assets. They’re becoming one of the most valuable parts of many people’s estates, and planning ahead today could prevent significant problems for your loved ones tomorrow.
