Planning for Your Estate? Don’t Forget Your Digital Assets

Traditional estate planning typically involves a great deal of thoughtful consideration about how to divide money, personal property and family heirlooms among our loved ones. It also includes leaving a personal legacy through bequest gifts that support the charitable causes that mean the most to us. And now, there is something else to add to the mix: digital assets.

What Are Digital Assets?

Today, almost everyone is active online – in fact, most companies, organizations and financial institutions encourage us to interact with them electronically. Your digital assets run the gamut from online bank accounts, investment accounts, cryptocurrency accounts and bill payment services to photo-sharing sites, social media accounts, websites and online storage accounts. Digital assets can also include e-mail accounts, retail “rewards” accounts and other accounts related to your personal interests, such as frequent flyer accounts, Pinterest and iTunes.

Who Has Access to Your Digital Assets?

While some of these assets primarily have entertainment value, others can have significant financial value. If your digital assets aren’t included in your estate plan, then your heirs might not know about that online investment account, retirement account or savings account, and those valuable assets could be lost — for years or even forever.

Have a plan. It’s vital that your estate plans include explicit instructions about how your heir(s) can access your digital assets. At the very least, be sure to give permission in your will for your executor to access your online accounts. A master list of online accounts and accompanying passwords should be kept in a safe place — such as a safety deposit box — and your estate document(s) should include instructions regarding where the passwords are located. Be sure to provide details for how you would like every aspect of your online world handled after your death, including social media profiles: should they be closed down or left online as a memorial?

Keep your information current. Usernames, passwords and lists of accounts must be updated regularly. Keep in mind that nearly every type of online account has a “terms of service” agreement, most of which are non-transferable, and there are several federal laws that prohibit certain unauthorized access to computers and online accounts. Originally designed to prevent online fraud, these laws can also keep surviving family members from accessing important information related to a deceased loved one’s estate. Making sure your estate representatives have accurate credentials for online accounts can help them avoid these barriers to access.

Don’t forget your devices. With the widespread use of face ID and fingerprint ID, it is crucial that you provide your personal representative(s) with the codes needed to access cell phones and tablets. Sometimes, even a copy of a death certificate isn’t enough for someone to gain access. These days, many of us store nearly all of our personal information on our devices, so it is important to not overlook this step.

Remember, Digital Assets Are Just That: Assets.

Plan for your digital assets in the same way you would any other valuable, tangible (or intangible) asset. Including digital assets in your estate planning can ease the management of your estate for your loved ones and safeguard the online elements of your life. After all, in addition to holding financial information, digital assets are what has replaced yesterday’s shoeboxes of photos, letters and other mementos. Planning ahead can help to preserve this digital facet of your personal legacy.

Questions? Contact David Toll, JD, senior associate vice president in Drexel University's Office of Gift Planning, at 215.895.1882 or giftplanning@drexel.edu.