Once upon a time, your legacy was in a filing cabinet: bank statements, deeds, maybe a photo album or two. Now? It’s on your phone, in the cloud, protected by passwords only you know. For retirees in Brunswick County, your estate isn’t just about real estate or retirement funds, it’s also about email accounts, iCloud photos, online storefronts, and cryptocurrency wallets.
So here’s the question: what happens to all that digital stuff when you pass away?
Without a plan, it can be lost, locked, or deleted forever. That’s why digital assets belong in your estate plan, just like your house, your car, and your savings.
What Counts as a Digital Asset?
Digital assets come in many forms:
- Personal: email, social media, cloud storage, passwords, photos, playlists
- Financial: PayPal, Venmo, online bank access, cryptocurrency
- Business: Etsy shops, Shopify stores, online royalties, NFTs, YouTube ad revenue
These aren’t just files or login screens. They carry real value—emotional, financial, or both. And if you’re the only one who knows how to access them, they can vanish when you do.
Why It’s Complicated
Even if you’ve shared a password or two with a loved one, that’s not always enough. Online platforms have their own rules. Most of them prohibit access by anyone other than the original user, even your spouse, child, or executor. That means your heirs could be blocked from recovering sentimental content or handling income-producing accounts.
North Carolina has adopted a law called RUFADAA—the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. It creates a legal path for someone to access your accounts after death, but only if you’ve given them express permission in your estate plan.
1. Add Digital Access to Your Estate Plan
A will, trust, or power of attorney can include language giving your chosen person (your fiduciary) the legal right to access digital assets. Without it, they may be shut out, even if you wanted them to have access.
2. Use Online Tools (When Offered)
Some platforms have their own settings that override even your estate documents. For example:
- Google offers an Inactive Account Manager to grant access after a period of inactivity.
- Facebook allows you to name a legacy contact.
- Apple has a Digital Legacy tool.
If you use these tools, they control what happens. If you don’t, your estate documents become the fallback.
3. Create a Digital Asset Inventory
List your accounts, platforms, usernames, and general notes (but not your passwords). You can include this in a private Digital Asset Memorandum, which is something separate from your will that you can update without revising your whole plan. Store it in a safe location, and inform your executor of its whereabouts.
4. Appoint a Digital Fiduciary
You can name someone just to manage your digital property. This is helpful if your primary executor isn’t tech-savvy. The digital fiduciary might handle YouTube royalties, access cloud storage, or manage online stores.
5. Consider Cryptocurrency Access
Crypto wallets and seed phrases are a unique challenge. If those passwords are lost, the assets may be gone forever. Some people split the key across different places or trusted people. Others engrave it on steel. The key thing is to treat it like real money, because it is.
6. Plan for Platform Limits
Even with a solid plan, some companies may not honor it. Terms of Service often limit access, and they’re not overridden by state law. Your best bet is to use the platform’s tools, then back it up with legal documents.
7. Review and Update Often
Digital life changes fast. Add new accounts to your inventory. Make sure your digital asset instructions still make sense. Review it every year or two, or anytime something big changes.
Digital assets aren’t just for techies. They’re part of everyday life, especially for retirees who’ve embraced online banking, digital photography, and family Zoom calls.
If you want help making sure your digital assets are part of your estate plan, B. Joseph Causey, Jr., Attorney at Law, can guide you through your options and help you make it official.
Executive Summary: From cloud photos to online income, digital assets matter. North Carolina’s RUFADAA law allows you to give legal access to these assets in your estate plan—but only if you take the right steps. Including digital instructions in your will, trust, or power of attorney, utilizing online tools, and naming a digital fiduciary can help prevent your legacy from being lost behind a forgotten password.