For many people, access to their financial and business assets is primarily online—including bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, retirement plans, life insurance policies, cryptocurrencies, domain name registrations, blogs, and websites. If you do not make passwords, keys, and the identity of these assets known to your beneficiaries or heirs it may be difficult or impossible for them to gain access to these assets at your death.

In addition to these financial and business assets, access to email accounts, phone passwords, computer passwords, home security accounts and passwords, cloud storage accounts, digital photo albums, videos, and social media accounts are often valuable personal assets and methods for accessing other assets. You may want to allow certain members of your family, friends, or other heirs to receive access to these assets and to have authority to bypass, reset, or recover passwords.

You may want to consult with your estate planning lawyer or financial advisor about options for distributing these assets (and providing access to them) by will, trust, or other means.

Many states have laws that govern access to digital assets and the obligations of a custodian of digital assets (including a website or online service provider) to disclose digital assets to a fiduciary such as the executor or administrator of a deceased person’s will or estate. These laws are usually located in a state’s statutes; are a version of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act; and are similarly titled (named) in the state’s statutes.

In New York, the management of digital assets after death is governed by the New York Consolidated Laws, Estates, Powers and Trusts Law - EPT § 13-A-1.1 to § 13-A-6.2, which is New York's version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). This law allows individuals to plan for the management and disposition of their digital assets by using online tools provided by custodians (such as social media or email providers) or by giving legal consent through traditional estate planning documents like wills, trusts, or powers of attorney. The law specifies how fiduciaries, such as executors or administrators, can access digital assets of the deceased, while balancing the privacy and intent of the decedent with the interests of the custodians of such assets. It is important for individuals to provide clear instructions regarding their digital assets to ensure that their heirs or designated fiduciaries can access them. Consulting with an attorney who specializes in estate planning can help individuals navigate these issues and prepare appropriate directives as part of their estate plans.