You can designate a “digital executor” in your will, who will be responsible for closing, memorizing or managing your accounts, as well as sharing or deleting digital assets such as photos and videos. Legally speaking, everything a person owns becomes part of their estate when they die. Personal representatives should be able to access digital assets in order to access them and distribute them to beneficiaries. However, it's important that you don't provide information that compromises the security of your asset, for example, don't provide any PIN number or password. Instead, you can explain how to access a safe or password manager that a designated person can access when you die.
Under the Computer Misuse Act, executors and personal representatives can be found guilty of committing a crime if they access digital assets before they die or later, if not for the purposes for which they were granted access. It could also be classified as money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Digital assets in estate plans include online accounts, cryptocurrencies, archives, email, and media. Understand how to plan your administration and access. Any digital asset that is not specifically mentioned in a will is considered part of the residual estate and will pass to the beneficiary who has the right to inherit it.
If you died without leaving a valid will, your digital assets would pass along with the rest of your estate to whoever had the right to inherit under the rules of intestate succession. With such a large number of accounts, it is certain that when someone dies, they will leave a large digital footprint. They can also manage your subscriptions online, ensuring that they are canceled and that online payments are not being withdrawn from the account. However, you'll have to decide this during your lifetime and appoint a previous contact to manage the account.
Yes, digital assets can be transferred depending on service providers and applicable laws, including inheritances, taxes and privacy. However, one thing that is not usually mentioned or thought about is the digital footprint they leave. Digital assets can make up a significant part of a person's wealth, but they are often not fully understood. Therefore, it is usually necessary for a court to intervene through a law cleverly called the Trust Access to Digital Assets Act (also known as the Revised Uniform Trust Access to Digital Assets Act or RUFADAA). In many cases, it will be a matter of determining if any of the digital files will be of interest to family or friends, deleting those that are not, and closing online accounts as necessary.
Here we have an independent cryptocurrency blog that explains what you should do if you own any of these digital assets. And, once you have all your documentation, court order, estate planning documents that say that the deceased or disabled person wanted their executor and trustees to access digital assets, email accounts, etc. Some digital accounts also allow you to add a “legacy contact” or an “inactive account manager” who would be authorized to manage your account if you were no longer able to do so. Discover the world of Internet privacy and immerse yourself in essential topics such as online security, protecting your digital identity and taking care of your devices.
