Digital assets can range from items of financial value like online bank and brokerage accounts to domain names, Twitter accounts, and social media pages. Sometimes accounting for these assets after the death of the owner can be a nightmare. It becomes even more difficult if the decedent paid bills or filed tax returns on line. Without login information to access web accounts, you may need to resort to hiring a computer forensics expert or obtain a court order for access to material.

estate planning with virtual assets

Without access to the accounts of the decedent, there is no way to stop automated bill payments or other automated services.

Suggestion: take inventory of all digital accounts and store a list of passwords and other necessary information on a flash drive. Put the drive in a safe deposit box or lock it in a safe. Remember to keep the inventory updated.