Americans increasingly live their lives online, storing everything from bank records to family photos in the cloud. Banking apps, retirement portals, iCloud photo libraries, and business websites, all of these accounts hold financial, personal, and sentimental value. Yet most estate plans do not account for this modern form of property, with less than 15% of Americans having an estate plan that addresses digital assets. Digital estate planning is a crucial growing area of planning in this digitalized world.
Even when a plan exists, digital accounts are often left unassigned. Just 53% of people with estate plans say their documents spell out what should happen to those accounts after death. The result is predictable: families discover they cannot access banking apps, cloud photo libraries, or business systems when they need them most.
The Law Hasn’t Caught Up With Digital Estate Planning
Traditional estate planning was designed for homes, investment accounts, and tangible heirlooms. But digital property doesn’t follow the same rules. Most platforms bind users to terms of service that treat accounts and content as licenses, not owned assets. Yahoo accounts, for instance, terminate upon death, while iTunes songs are leased for a lifetime rather than owned outright. Even with a password, accessing someone else’s account after death can violate federal law or the platform’s terms.
Recognizing these challenges, nearly every state has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). The law allows fiduciaries (executors, trustees, or agents under a power of attorney) to manage digital assets, but only if estate planning documents explicitly mention “digital assets.” Generic “all assets” language is not enough. Moreover, online tools such as Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Facebook’s Legacy Contact can override a will or trust. The result is a three-layer system: state law, platform tools, and service agreements. That combination can leave families in a legal gray zone when clarity matters most.
Planning for Digital Heirlooms
Heirlooms are not only physical objects anymore. Many live online as photo albums stored in iCloud, playlists curated on Spotify, home videos in Dropbox, and archives of emails and messages that tell your story. Preserving these assets allows loved ones to ensure that a legacy lives on, but without clear instructions, these assets can disappear overnight.
Beyond sentimental value, digital assets often carry measurable financial and operational stakes. Loyalty points, stored balances, and subscription credits can lapse, while domain registrations and cloud repositories can be forfeited. For families with online businesses, losing credentials to the website, registrar, email, commerce platform, accounting tools, or payment processors can interrupt revenue, create compliance risk, and jeopardize continuity.
What You Can Do Now
Digital estate planning requires intentional action:
- Identify digital heirlooms. Make a list of your digital assets, from banking and investment accounts to photo libraries and social media profiles. Decide which should be preserved and which you’d prefer deleted.
- Update your documents. Ensure your will, trust, and power of attorney explicitly mention digital assets and include clear instructions on exactly who should have access to what. Under RUFADAA, general language isn’t enough.
- Use platform tools. Set up features like Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Facebook’s Legacy Contact to create a digital “beneficiary designation” and make sure these choices align with your documents.
- Share the plan securely. Make sure your fiduciaries know where the inventory is stored and how to access it.
Bringing Estate Planning Into the Digital Age
Digital assets are now part of mainstream wealth. They are central to how people live, work, and connect. The law is evolving, but access still depends on what you authorize in writing and in your account settings. By taking deliberate steps now, you can make sure your digital life remains accessible and protected for those who matter most.
Your legacy today isn’t just physical. It’s digital. And without digital estate planning, it risks vanishing into the cloud.
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