Most families know that an estate plan should address bank accounts, investments, real estate, and other valuable property. But what happens when the information needed to identify or manage those assets exists almost entirely online?
Investment statements arrive electronically. Important records are stored in cloud accounts. Business owners manage company operations through online platforms. Some families also hold cryptocurrency or other assets that require specialized access credentials.
These arrangements offer convenience during life, but they can create unexpected difficulties after death or incapacity.
An executor may know that valuable assets exist without knowing where to find them. Even when an account is identified, the provider may require proof of legal authority before releasing information.
A comprehensive estate plan should address not only who inherits an asset, but also how the person responsible for administering the estate can identify and access it.
When the Executor Knows an Account Exists but Cannot Access It
Consider a Virginia business owner who dies unexpectedly, leaving his adult daughter responsible for administering his estate.
She knows her father managed substantial investments online, maintained digital records for several rental properties, and owned some cryptocurrency. His will appoints her as executor, and she has access to his home office.
However, the financial statements she finds are several years old. His current records were stored electronically, and she does not know which online services he used.
His primary email account contains much of the information she needs, but the provider will not simply release its contents upon request.
Meanwhile, certain accounts use multifactor authentication tied to his smartphone, and his cryptocurrency holdings may require information that cannot be recovered if lost.
The daughter has been legally appointed to administer the estate, but that appointment does not automatically provide immediate access to every digital account.
The problem is not necessarily the ownership of the assets. It is the absence of a coordinated plan for identifying and accessing them.
What Counts as a Digital Asset?
Digital estate planning covers several categories of property and information.
Some digital assets have independent financial value, including certain cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles, and electronically maintained intellectual property.
Other accounts provide access to traditional property. Online brokerage accounts, for example, may hold securities that are legally owned by the account holder. The account’s electronic records and the underlying investments are not necessarily treated as the same asset.
Families may also need access to email accounts, cloud storage, electronically stored contracts, domain names, and business records.
These distinctions matter because the right to receive an underlying asset does not automatically include unrestricted access to the online account through which it was managed.
Similarly, permission to access information does not necessarily transfer ownership of digital property.
What Does Virginia Law Allow?
Virginia adopted the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act to establish procedures governing access to certain digital information.
The law addresses fiduciaries, including executors, trustees, agents under powers of attorney, and other authorized representatives.
Under Virginia Code § 64.2-118, individuals may use an online tool provided by an account custodian to direct whether particular digital information may be disclosed to a designated person.
When a qualifying online tool allows the individual to change or delete those directions at any time, its instructions generally take precedence over conflicting directions in a will, trust, or power of attorney.
If no such online direction has been given, a person may authorize or prohibit disclosure through appropriate estate planning documents or another record.
Importantly, Virginia law distinguishes the contents of electronic communications from other digital information.
Under § 64.2-121, disclosure of the actual contents of a deceased person’s electronic communications generally requires the person’s consent or a court direction, along with the required documentation.
Other digital assets and information about electronic communications are addressed separately under § 64.2-122.
These provisions create procedures for authorized access. They do not guarantee that an executor will receive a deceased person’s passwords or unrestricted control over every account.
Online Legacy Tools Can Help, but They Have Limits
Some major technology providers offer tools that allow users to establish instructions before death.
For example, Apple’s Legacy Contact feature allows a designated person to request access to certain Apple Account data after the account holder dies. The process requires an access key and a death certificate.
However, the feature does not provide access to everything. Information stored in iCloud Keychain, including passwords and passkeys, is excluded.
Google offers an Inactive Account Manager that allows users to designate people who may receive selected account information after a specified period of inactivity.
These tools can be useful, but they are not substitutes for comprehensive estate planning. Their procedures, limitations, and available information vary among providers.
Families should also remember that an account’s inactivity settings may operate independently of whether its owner has died.
Cryptocurrency Requires Special Attention
Cryptocurrency creates a particularly important distinction between legal ownership and practical access.
When cryptocurrency is held through a regulated exchange or another custodial provider, an executor may have a process for establishing authority and requesting the transfer of assets.
Self-custodied cryptocurrency presents a different problem.
If the owner controls the assets through a private wallet, accessing them may require a private key or wallet recovery information. If that information is permanently lost, legal ownership alone may not provide a way to recover the assets.
A court order cannot recreate a missing private key.
That makes secure succession planning essential. The owner should establish how an appropriately authorized person can locate the necessary information without exposing sensitive credentials to theft.
Private keys and recovery phrases should not be placed directly in a will that may become part of a public court record.
Business Owners Face Additional Risks
For business owners, digital estate planning extends beyond personal accounts.
Customer records, financial systems, domain registrations, electronic contracts, and cloud-based operational platforms may be critical to keeping a company functioning.
If only the owner has the necessary access or administrative authority, death or incapacity can disrupt operations.
The estate plan should therefore work alongside business-governance documents, authorized account arrangements, and continuity procedures.
This is especially important when a successor must distinguish between accounts belonging personally to the deceased owner and those legally belonging to the business.
Create a Digital Asset Inventory Without Exposing Passwords
One of the simplest planning improvements is maintaining an organized inventory of important digital accounts.
An inventory should identify the institutions and services used, the types of assets or information involved, relevant account identifiers, and where authorized representatives can find the records needed to administer them.
It should also distinguish personal accounts from business accounts and identify cryptocurrency holdings or other assets requiring specialized access arrangements.
However, the inventory should not become an unsecured list of passwords and recovery credentials.
Sensitive information should be protected through an appropriate security method, with a documented procedure for authorized access when necessary.
The inventory also needs regular review. Accounts change, online services close, devices are replaced, and security procedures evolve.
An outdated inventory may be only marginally more useful than having none.
Coordinate Digital Access With Your Estate Planning Documents
A digital asset inventory is useful, but it cannot replace legal authority.
Wills, trusts, and powers of attorney should be reviewed to determine whether they contain appropriate provisions governing digital assets and electronic communications.
This matters during incapacity as well as after death.
For example, Virginia Code § 64.2-123 generally requires express authority in a power of attorney for an agent to obtain the contents of the principal’s electronic communications.
Families should also examine whether their chosen executors, trustees, and agents have the practical knowledge needed to carry out their responsibilities.
Effective estate planning coordinates asset ownership, fiduciary appointments, and access arrangements rather than treating digital accounts as an unrelated technical issue.
Make Your Digital Assets Part of Your Estate Plan
Digital assets are no longer peripheral to a family’s financial affairs. They may represent substantial wealth, provide access to important records, or support the continued operation of a privately owned business.
Without advance planning, even a capable executor or trustee may encounter unnecessary delays, expenses, and uncertainty.
The objective is not to give family members unrestricted access to personal information. It is to make sure the right people can identify, protect, and administer relevant assets when they have the legal authority to do so.
Miller Legal Group advises individuals, families, business owners, and fiduciaries on sophisticated estate planning and the practical challenges of estate administration.
If significant financial or business assets are maintained electronically, contact Miller Legal Group to discuss how your existing estate plan addresses digital property and authorized access.
