Don't Forget Your Digital Assets

When most people think about estate planning, they think about bank accounts, property, and investments. But in today's world, some of your most important assets are digital.

What counts as a digital asset?

Digital assets include anything you own or access online:

• Email accounts — often the key to recovering or accessing other accounts
• Social media profiles — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
• Cryptocurrency — Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other wallets
• Subscriptions — streaming services, software, cloud storage
• Online banking and investment portals — login credentials and recovery methods
• Domains and websites — if you own any web properties
• Digital photos and files — cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud

Why it matters

If your family doesn't know about your digital accounts, they can't manage them. Crypto wallets without known keys are lost forever. Email accounts that no one can access may hold critical recovery links for financial accounts. Paid subscriptions continue to charge.

What to document

For each digital asset, record:

• The service or platform name
• Your username or email associated with it
• How to access it (password manager, recovery codes, hardware keys)
• What should happen to it (transfer, close, memorialize)

You don't need to store passwords directly — just make sure someone you trust knows how to get into your password manager or where your recovery codes are stored.

Keep it updated

Digital accounts change frequently. Set a reminder to review your digital asset list every six months. Add new accounts, remove closed ones, and make sure access methods are still current.

Document your digital assets with EstateBase — it's free and takes just a few minutes.