What Happens to Your Digital Assets When You Die?

A generation ago, estate planning was relatively straightforward. Most people owned a home, a bank

account, perhaps a car, and a box of family photographs tucked away in a closet. When someone died, their loved ones knew where to find those things.

Today, much of our lives exist somewhere behind a password.

Our family photographs are stored in the cloud. Our financial records live in online portals. Our businesses may operate through websites, social media accounts, and subscription-based software. Some people own cryptocurrency worth thousands of dollars. Others have years of emails, messages, and digital memories that their families would desperately want to preserve.

Yet many estate plans never address what happens to these assets after death.

In Washington State, digital assets have become an increasingly important part of estate planning. While most people understand who will inherit their home or their bank account, far fewer have considered who will have access to their email account, their Facebook profile, or the cryptocurrency wallet containing a significant portion of their savings.

The answer is often more complicated than people expect.

Digital assets can include almost anything that exists electronically. Email accounts, social media profiles, cloud storage, online photographs, domain names, websites, cryptocurrency, payment applications, loyalty programs, subscription services, and even the software used to operate a business may all be considered digital assets. In many cases, these assets have both financial and sentimental value.

The challenge is that access to digital assets is governed by a unique combination of estate planning law, privacy law, and the policies of the companies that host the information. Many people assume that if their spouse or children know their passwords, they will automatically be able to access their accounts. Unfortunately, that is not always true. Companies such as Google, Apple, Meta, and other online service providers maintain their own rules regarding account access after death. Federal privacy laws may also limit what information can be disclosed, even to family members.

To address these issues, Washington has adopted legislation known as the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, often referred to as RUFADAA. This law establishes a framework for determining who may access digital assets when a person becomes incapacitated or dies. One of the most important features of the law is that it places significant weight on the choices you make while you are alive.

For example, many technology companies now provide tools that allow users to designate what should happen to their accounts after death. Google's Inactive Account Manager and Facebook's Legacy Contact feature are common examples. If you use these tools, the instructions you provide may control access to that account, even if your Will says something different.

If no online designation exists, your estate planning documents become critically important. A properly drafted Will, Trust, or Durable Power of Attorney can authorize a fiduciary to access, manage, preserve, transfer, or close digital accounts. Without those instructions, your loved ones may find themselves navigating complicated provider policies with limited authority and little success. Another important distinction involves the difference between the existence of communications and their contents.

A fiduciary may be able to obtain information showing that emails or messages exist, including details such as dates, recipients, and account information. Obtaining the actual contents of those communications, however, is often far more difficult. In many circumstances, service providers will not disclose the contents of emails, messages, or stored communications unless the account owner provided clear consent during their lifetime. This distinction can create significant practical problems. A family may know that an important email exists but be unable to access the message itself. A business owner's successor may know that critical information is stored in an account but lack the authority necessary to retrieve it.

For that reason, digital asset planning should be an intentional part of every estate plan.

The first step is creating an inventory. Most people are surprised by how many digital assets they actually have. Email accounts, social media profiles, online banking platforms, cloud storage systems, subscription services, cryptocurrency wallets, websites, and business software should all be identified and documented.

Next, consider who should have authority to manage those assets if you become incapacitated or die. In some cases, that may be the same person who serves as your Personal Representative or Trustee. In others, particularly where significant business interests or technical assets are involved, a separate individual may be better suited to handle digital matters.

It is also important to establish secure methods for storing passwords, recovery information, and access instructions. These details should not be placed directly in a Will, which may become a public court record. Instead, many people use password managers, secure memoranda, or other protected methods that can be updated as accounts change.

Special care should be taken with cryptocurrency. Unlike traditional financial accounts, cryptocurrency often cannot be recovered if private keys, seed phrases, or hardware devices are lost. A substantial amount of wealth has been permanently lost simply because no one knew how to access it after the owner's death. Proper planning can help prevent that outcome.

Business owners face additional concerns. A website, customer database, advertising account, payment processor, or software platform may be essential to keeping a business operating. Without clear instructions and authority, a temporary loss of access can quickly become a permanent business problem.

The reality is that modern estate planning is no longer limited to physical property. Much of what we own, create, and value now exists online. Whether those assets are family photographs, financial accounts, business systems, or digital currency, planning for their management after death is every bit as important as deciding who inherits a house or a bank account. Your digital life is part of your legacy. Taking the time to address it now can spare your loved ones significant frustration and ensure that the assets and memories you leave behind remain accessible to the people you intend to receive them.