Digital assets are now part of everyday financial planning and estate planning. From online banking and investment portals to email, cloud storage, social media, cryptocurrency, and loyalty accounts, many families have important information and value stored online. Without a plan, loved ones and fiduciaries may face delays, privacy restrictions, or uncertainty when trying to manage these accounts after incapacity or death.
What Are Digital Assets?
A digital asset is generally an electronic record in which someone has a right or interest. In practical terms, that can include both financial and non-financial accounts. Some may have monetary value, while others may be important because they contain information, family records, or access to other accounts.
Common examples include:
- Online bank, brokerage, and retirement account portals
- Email accounts and cloud storage
- Social media profiles and personal websites
- Digital photos, videos, and documents
- Cryptocurrency, digital wallets, and private keys
- Rewards programs, airline miles, and subscription accounts
- Business accounts, domain names, and online storefronts
Not every digital account is treated the same way. Some accounts are governed by the account provider’s terms of service. Others may be affected by state law, federal privacy rules, or the estate planning documents you have in place.
Why Digital Assets Matter in Estate Planning
Traditional estate planning often focuses on assets such as homes, investment accounts, retirement plans, business interests, and personal property. Those remain important, but many of the records needed to locate, value, or transfer those assets may now be digital.
For example, a surviving spouse may need access to an email account to receive bills, find insurance policies, or locate tax documents. A trustee may need information about online financial accounts to administer a trust. An executor may need to close subscriptions, preserve digital photos, or identify whether the estate owns cryptocurrency.
The challenge is that having the right legal role does not always mean instant access. A fiduciary may need specific authority, proper documentation, and cooperation from the account provider. The Uniform Law Commission’s materials on the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act explain that access to digital assets can depend on user consent, online tools, and estate documents such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney.
Start With a Digital Asset Inventory
A digital estate plan begins with a clear inventory. This does not mean writing down every password in an unsecured document. Instead, the goal is to give your trusted person a roadmap of what exists and where to look.
A useful inventory may include:
- The name of each important account or platform
- The type of account, such as financial, personal, business, or subscription
- The location of key records, such as a password manager or secure file
- Whether the account has monetary value
- Whether the account contains personal information or family records
- Any beneficiary, legacy contact, or transfer setting available through the platform
This inventory should be stored securely and updated periodically. It should not be placed directly in a will if it contains sensitive information, because a will may become part of the public probate record in some circumstances.
Plan for Access, Not Just Ownership
One of the most common misconceptions is that family members can simply log in to a loved one’s accounts after death. In many cases, that may violate a platform’s terms of service or create privacy concerns. Even if the family knows the password, access may not be legally authorized.
A better approach is to plan for access in advance. Some platforms allow users to name a legacy contact, inactive account manager, or similar trusted person. These tools can be helpful, but they should be coordinated with your broader estate planning documents.
Consider reviewing whether your will, trust, and financial power of attorney clearly address digital assets. Depending on state law and the platform’s rules, these documents may need to authorize your executor, trustee, or agent to access, manage, transfer, archive, or delete digital assets. Because these rules are legal in nature and can vary by state, an estate planning attorney should be involved.
How Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney Fit Together
Digital asset planning is not usually a separate estate plan. It is best viewed as part of the broader planning structure.
A will can name an executor and may include authority to manage digital assets after death. A trust can help manage assets titled in the trust and may include instructions for trustees about digital records or online accounts. A financial power of attorney can authorize an agent to handle certain matters during your lifetime if you become unable to act for yourself.
Each document serves a different purpose:
- A will generally applies after death and may go through probate.
- A trust may provide ongoing management according to its terms.
- A power of attorney generally applies during life and ends at death.
- Healthcare directives usually address medical decisions rather than financial or digital account access.
Digital asset language should be specific enough to be useful but flexible enough to account for changing technology. Your attorney can help determine whether your current documents already provide sufficient authority or whether updates may be appropriate.
Special Considerations for Cryptocurrency and Digital Wallets
Cryptocurrency and certain digital wallets require extra attention because access may depend on private keys, seed phrases, or other credentials. If those credentials are lost, the asset may be difficult or impossible to recover. If they are stored carelessly, they may be vulnerable to theft.
The IRS maintains guidance on digital assets for tax reporting purposes, including examples such as cryptocurrency and other digital representations of value. Families who own these assets should consider how they will be identified, valued, secured, and reported for tax and estate administration purposes.
This is an area where coordination matters. Your estate planning attorney, tax professional, and financial advisor may each have a role. The legal documents should address authority, the tax records should support reporting, and the access plan should protect sensitive credentials.
Privacy, Security, and Common Pitfalls
Digital estate planning requires a balance between access and security. Too little information can leave fiduciaries unable to act. Too much unsecured information can create risk during life.
Common pitfalls include:
- Keeping all account information in your memory only
- Sharing passwords casually by email or text
- Forgetting to update phone numbers used for two-factor authentication
- Naming a legacy contact on one platform but not updating legal documents
- Assuming a fiduciary can access private messages without explicit authority
- Failing to include business-related digital accounts in the plan
A secure password manager, properly documented emergency access process, and periodic review can help reduce confusion. The plan should also consider who is trustworthy, organized, and comfortable handling digital information.
When to Review Your Digital Estate Plan
Digital asset planning should be reviewed when your broader estate plan is reviewed. It may also deserve attention after specific life events, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a named fiduciary, a business transition, or a major change in your online financial life.
It can also be useful to review your plan when you adopt new technology. Opening a cryptocurrency wallet, starting an online business, moving records to cloud storage, or relying on a new password manager can all affect how your fiduciaries would locate and manage important information.
Key Takeaway
Digital assets are now a practical part of estate planning, not just a technology issue. Consider reviewing your online accounts, documenting where key information is stored, and confirming that your wills, trusts, and powers of attorney address digital access clearly. If you would like help thinking through how digital assets fit into your broader financial planning and wealth management picture, our team would be glad to help you start the conversation with your legal and tax professionals.
Uniform Law Commission, "Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Enactment Kit" 2020
Internal Revenue Service, "Digital Assets" 2026
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "Managing Someone Else's Money" 2026
American Bar Association, "How to Protect Digital Assets in an Estate Plan" 2025
This material is provided for general educational purposes only and should not be considered individualized financial, investment, tax, legal, cybersecurity, or estate planning advice. Digital asset laws, account provider rules, privacy requirements, and fiduciary access rights vary by state, platform, and individual circumstances. This article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by our team for accuracy, clarity, and relevance before publication. Hungerford Financial does not provide legal or tax advice. Readers should consult qualified estate planning, tax, legal, and cybersecurity professionals before making decisions about wills, trusts, powers of attorney, account access, digital wallets, or cryptocurrency storage. Digital assets, including cryptocurrency and other digital representations of value, may involve significant risks, including loss of access, theft, valuation uncertainty, regulatory change, and tax reporting obligations. No strategy can guarantee access, asset recovery, privacy protection, or a particular legal or tax outcome.