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 Ohio, the management and inheritance of digital assets, including financial and business assets that are primarily managed online, are governed by the Ohio Revised Code, specifically under the Ohio Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. This Act is based on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA), which provides legal authority for fiduciaries such as executors, trustees, or agents to manage and access digital assets of a deceased or incapacitated person. It is important for individuals to plan for the transfer of their digital assets by including them in their estate planning documents, such as wills or trusts, and by providing the necessary consent for fiduciaries to access these assets. This may involve listing passwords, keys, and account information, or using online tools provided by service providers that allow users to designate individuals who can access their accounts upon death or incapacitation. Consulting with an attorney who specializes in estate planning can help ensure that all digital assets are properly accounted for and that the estate plan complies with current Ohio law.