Everyone has a ‘digital’ estate. It’s the collection of data, storage, software, and hardware assets that power your digital communications with everyone around you (financial, health, business, social) and stores your assets (pictures, manuscripts, research, intellectual property, and more recently NFTs and cryptocurrency ).

Consider it from three perspectives:

a) Protecting your digital and physical estate from fraud and loss. Security that makes your email, bank, securities, and insurance accounts, genetic and health records, and legal documents safe today can stop executors and heirs access when you die.

b) The life story you want to pass on to you family. Part you control and can store, other parts are owned or held in custody by social sites or the operator of services you subscribe to (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Ancestry, even contact management systems)

c) Items of current or future digital value (e.g. photographic and similar art, manuscripts, music, intellectual property, NFT and cryptocurrency).

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) and adopted by most states, can give Executors access to emails, chats, and DMs, if you make it explicit. Some digital custodians like Google and Facebook have ways to designate who can access your account. A “Digital” Estate Plan can legally direct who (and who can’t) access your digital estate. Failing those, the custodian’s terms of service apply, which can mean your accounts terminate at death.

Steps for a proactive approach are:

1. Inventory all digital assets,

a. List financial, health, and private/privileged digital accounts and communications, and access keys,

b. Computer hardware, software, and subscriptions

c. Storage locations and custodians of all digital information

2. Decide what’s to happen to them,

3. Designate a digital executor, who’s ‘digitally’ comfortable,

4. Secure it with protected access when needed,

5. Make it legally binding where you live.