Digital Assets in Wills: Why You Need to Plan for Your Online Life

Society is becoming increasingly tech-focused and as we spend more of our time in front of a screen, it also means that we are moving more of our lives online. 

Despite that, when making a Will, it’s easy to overlook our digital assets, i.e. those held in electronic form. Whether they are of monetary or sentimental value, you can decide what should happen to the ‘ownership’ of them when you die, in exactly the same way as tangible assets.

There are any number of assets we might hold digitally, but common ones include:

• Family photos;
• Higher quality photographs that could be sold or licensed;
• Digitally created art;
• Documents saved on a computer or in a cloud account;
• Websites/blogs;
• Domain names;
• Digital manuscripts for books, stories, poetry;
• Emails;
• Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin;
• Other online accounts (including selling and gambling accounts). 

Can you inherit digital assets?

The answer is yes.  Digital assets are treated in much the same way as physical assets.  If you want certain of your digital assets to be passed on to a particular person you should include those instructions in your Will. 

Any digital assets same as physical assets not mentioned explicitly in your Will are considered part of your residuary estate and will pass to the beneficiary to whom is entitled to inherit. 

What can I do with my passwords to online accounts?

A Will can contain a list of your digital assets but you must never include passwords etc within your Will.  The information must be stored securely elsewhere so that your executors can use the same and access your digital accounts after your date of death. 

There are organisations such as the Digital Legacy Association that can offer guidance and advice with regards digital legacies.

What happens to my digital assets if I haven’t got a Will?

Without a Will your digital assets will be treated the same as any other assets you have and your estate will be passed onto the relevant person entitled to the same under the Intestacy Rules. 

A Will is one of the most important documents you can have and it is vital to put one in place for all your assets including digital assets. 

For personalised advice and support, please contact our Private Client team who will be more than happy to assist you.