When most people picture an estate plan, they think about the house, the car, the savings account, maybe a life insurance policy. What they rarely think about is the growing pile of digital assets that make up modern life — and what happens to all of it when they die or become incapacitated.
For families across Maryland, DC, and Virginia, this is quickly becoming one of the most overlooked gaps in an otherwise solid estate plan.
What Counts as a Digital Asset?
Digital assets go far beyond social media accounts. They include:
- Online banking and investment accounts
- Cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts
- Email accounts
- Cloud storage (photos, documents, family videos)
- Subscription services and loyalty/rewards points
- Domain names and websites
- Digital photos and videos that may never exist in printed form
- Business accounts — client lists, invoicing platforms, social media pages tied to a company
Without a plan, these assets can be locked behind passwords, two-factor authentication, and platform-specific privacy policies that even a spouse or adult child cannot bypass without a court order.
Why This Trips Up Even Well-Prepared Families
Traditional estate planning was built around physical and titled assets — real estate, bank accounts, vehicles. Digital assets don’t fit neatly into that model. Some platforms have their own legacy or memorialization settings. Others have none at all, leaving executors to navigate a maze of customer service departments and legal requests just to close an account or retrieve family photos.
Maryland, DC, and Virginia have each adopted versions of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives fiduciaries a legal pathway to access digital accounts — but only if the estate plan actually grants that authority in writing. Without the right language, even a properly executed will or power of attorney may not be enough.
Steps to Protect Your Digital Life
- Take inventory. List the accounts, platforms, and digital property that matter — financial, personal, and business. This doesn’t need to include every password, but it should identify what exists.
- Choose a digital executor. This can be the same person named in your will or a separate, tech-savvy family member or advisor who will be responsible for accessing, transferring, or closing digital accounts.
- Update your documents. Your will, power of attorney, and trust documents should include specific digital asset authority, consistent with Maryland, DC, or Virginia law depending on where you live.
- Use built-in tools where available. Services like Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Apple’s Legacy Contact allow you to designate someone in advance — a helpful supplement to, not a replacement for, your legal documents.
- Store access information securely. A password manager with an emergency access feature, or clear instructions kept with your attorney, ensures your digital executor isn’t starting from zero.
Don’t Let a Photo Album Get Lost in the Cloud
Family photos, video messages, years of email correspondence — much of what used to live in a shoebox now lives in an account that requires a password. An estate plan that doesn’t account for digital assets can leave those memories, along with real financial value, out of reach for the people you intended to inherit them.
If your estate plan was written more than a few years ago, chances are it doesn’t address your digital footprint at all. It’s worth a conversation before that gap becomes someone else’s problem to solve.