It’s not clear what our digital lives will look like in the years to come. One thing is clear: when we die, our digital selves remain, leaving our loved ones open to cybersecurity risks, identity theft and a loss of any privacy. According to the article “Planning can preserve your digital legacy” from The Philadelphia Tribune, humans have produced more data on digital platforms in recent years than in all of human history. The pace is accelerating.
Many people have had email and other digital accounts for decades, some dating back to the 1970s. However, for most people, it’s only been since the early 2000s, when Facebook, Gmail, X and YouTube began operations. Almost a decade later, a group of attorneys from around the country drafted a uniform law encouraging all states to adopt it, allowing people to use their wills to give their executors access to email and social media platforms. Almost all 50 states have now adopted RUFADAA—the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets.
However, it’s not so simple. The law doesn’t specify exactly how this access should happen. For the time being, the executor must contact the company behind each digital platform to determine how to access the person’s accounts. In a few states that haven’t yet passed RUFADAA, the companies decide who can access a decedent’s digital assets. This article says Yahoo! is notorious for terminating accounts upon a user’s death and forbidding any access afterwards.
Because so much remains unresolved despite RUFADAA, it’s wise to ensure that digital assets are addressed in the estate plan and that key information is shared with loved ones. Access to a loved one’s emails might be the most important. Messages and photos are likely to hold great sentimental value. There’s also the business side of life: bank and investment account statements, utility bills, credit cards and other online accounts.
The crux of the matter is the owner’s privacy rights and the company’s control over the platform. The company claims it can’t violate the privacy rights of the deceased, despite the general thinking that a dead person doesn’t need privacy protection. From another angle, while the company owns the platform, who owns the actual photos or content?
While there are many larger issues concerning digital life, like AI’s role, for now, the first task is to write down what you want to happen to your digital assets. Create a list of the accounts in your name and determine which ones you want your executor to access. If you have online accounts you don’t want anyone to know about, you may want to delete those while you are still living.
Don’t leave user names or passwords in your will, as the will becomes a public document upon death. Keep access information in a safe place, whether in a password manager or on paper. Tell your executor where they will find this document, so they can act on your behalf.
Some, but not all, companies provide a way to transfer assets upon death. Google provides a way for users to specify what should happen to their account if it’s not used for several months.
Make digital asset protection part of your estate plan to protect your privacy and simplify estate management after your passing. You may not leave a box of photos and memorabilia behind. However, with estate planning, you can preserve your digital and analog legacy.
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Reference: The Philadelphia Tribune (Feb. 14, 2025) “Planning can preserve your digital legacy”
