Death, Data & Digital Dollars: Why Digital Assets Now Matter in Estate Planning

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to present a Continuing Legal Education program for the Oregon State Bar on the topic of digital assets in estate planning. The presentation was attended by approximately 175 estate planning attorneys, and the goal was to provide practical guidance on how lawyers should be addressing digital assets in modern estate plans. The discussion generated a lot of thoughtful questions from attorneys across the state, which confirmed something I have been seeing in my own practice: digital assets have become an increasingly important—and often overlooked—part of estate planning.

Because the topic resonated so strongly with attorneys, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the key ideas more broadly with clients, business owners, and families. The reality is that estate planning today is very different from what it looked like twenty or thirty years ago.

In the past, most estate plans dealt primarily with physical or traditional financial assets: homes, bank accounts, retirement plans, brokerage accounts, and tangible personal property. Estate planning conversations often centered around questions like: Who receives the house? Who receives the investment accounts? Who will act as executor or trustee?

Those questions still matter, of course. But layered on top of those traditional assets is an entirely new category of property that often exists only in digital form and can only be accessed through passwords, authentication systems, and online platforms. Today, a significant portion of a person’s financial life, and much of their personal life, exists online.

Digital assets can include obvious financial items such as cryptocurrency accounts, online brokerage accounts, and payment platforms like PayPal or Venmo. But they also include more ordinary things that now function through digital access, such as mortgage dashboards, insurance portals, and tax filing platforms. In many cases, some of the most meaningful digital assets are not financial at all. Family photographs stored in the cloud, email archives, personal videos, and social media accounts may hold tremendous sentimental value for families.

For business owners, digital assets can be even more critical. Websites, domain names, client databases, advertising accounts, and online storefronts can all be essential to the continued operation of a business. If the person who manages those systems suddenly becomes unavailable, the business can face real operational disruption. This situation is more common in small and family owned businesses where access and sharing systems aren’t fully baked. 

One of the central challenges in this area is what I call “the password problem.” Access to digital accounts is restricted not just by technology but also by law. Federal privacy laws, such as the Stored Communications Act, limit what service providers can disclose. Terms-of-service agreements often restrict account access. Two-factor authentication and encryption add additional barriers. Even if someone has been appointed as executor or trustee, service providers may still require explicit legal authorization before releasing account information.

Oregon addressed this issue by adopting the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which is codified in ORS Chapter 119. This law provides a framework for how fiduciaries (executors, trustees, and agents under powers of attorney) can access digital assets after death or incapacity. The law essentially allows fiduciaries to step into the shoes of the account owner, but it also respects the privacy rules governing online accounts. As a result, the best practice is to include clear digital asset authorization language in estate planning documents so that service providers have explicit permission to work with the fiduciary.

Legal authority, however, is only part of the solution. Even when someone has the legal right to access accounts, they still need to know what accounts exist how to find them. Unlike traditional assets, digital assets often leave very little paper trail. If no one knows that an account exists, or where the credentials are stored, it may never be discovered.

For that reason, I often recommend that clients maintain a digital asset inventory alongside their estate planning documents. This does NOT mean listing passwords directly in the estate plan itself, but rather creating a secure record that identifies the platforms, accounts, and locations of credentials so that a trusted fiduciary can locate them if necessary. Basically, a spreadsheet or similar document that lists key accounts and digital assets.

A second practical tool that can help solve the password problem is the use of a password management system. Many people already use services like 1Password or LastPass to securely store login credentials. Some of these systems also allow a trusted person to obtain emergency access if the account owner becomes incapacitated.

There are also password management systems designed specifically for estate planning. One example is Easeenet, which provides a passwordless credential management platform and guided legacy worksheet designed for use in an estate planning context. Tools like this can help individuals maintain a secure, organized record of their digital life while still retaining full control over who can access information and when.

Ultimately, digital estate planning comes down to three key ideas. First, your estate planning documents should provide clear legal authority for your fiduciaries to manage digital assets. Second, there should be a reliable way for those fiduciaries to identify what digital assets exist. Third, there must be a secure way for someone to access the necessary credentials when the time comes.

Estate planning used to be about keys to the house and the safe deposit box. Today it is also about keys to digital assets. As more of our financial lives, businesses, and personal histories move online, thoughtful planning around digital assets is becoming an essential part of a modern estate plan.

If you have questions about how digital assets fit into your estate planning strategy, I am always happy to discuss the topic further.