By Isobel Fensome

Solicitor

04 November 2026

Article Blog

We have an ever-increasing reliance on digital records, but sentimental photographs or access to your trading accounts could be lost after your death. It is important to consider who can access your digital assets after your death and how these can be passed to beneficiaries through your Will.

What are Digital Assets?

Digital Assets include items you access on any of your devices (mobile, tablet, laptop), often through an online account or stored on the device itself, including digital photos, videos, social media conversations or even family ancestry databases. They may be of financial value, sentimental value or have intellectual property rights associated with them.

Whilst many may assume their family can access these accounts automatically following their death, family members could have difficulties doing so. Many providers will not allow a next of kin or personal representatives to access sentimental records for confidentiality reasons and require actions to be taken during your lifetime to enable access after your death.

If you have specific wishes as to who should receive or access your digital assets, you should ensure your Will reflects this.

Your Will

There are several points to consider when including gifts of digital assets in your Will:

• Many Wills contain a clause dealing with all personal chattels. However, this does not necessarily capture all of your digital assets, especially if your Will uses the statutory definition of personal chattels (in fact, it may not capture any digital assets or devices if your Will was created before 1^st October 2014). This could result in a scenario in which your digital assets pass to the persons entitled to the residue of your estate, which may not be your intention.
• It is possible to gift digital assets to specific beneficiaries, but it is important to consider whether you wish to only gift digital assets which have sentimental value or those which have monetary value such as saleable intellectual property or cryptoassets.
• Digital assets should be identifiable in the Will. This can be quite straightforward where you intend to leave a specific photo collection, but specific assets may need detailed descriptions containing location, file names and other metadata.
• If there are intellectual property rights attached to your digital assets, you should consider who should inherit those assets and whether there should be limits on their exploitation.
• When gifting digital assets with monetary value, you should periodically review their value to ensure it aligns with the intended gift amount.
• If you list specific digital assets in your Will and later change where they are held, you should update your Will to reflect any substitute account or updated details (if you intend to leave them to the same beneficiary).

During your Lifetime

You can take measures during your lifetime to reduce the risk of information being lost or accounts being deactivated:

1. Ensure you have a good understanding of your digital assets and keep a hardcopy record in a secure location containing a list of the accounts held and how to access the accounts or devices. Some providers may not keep records indefinitely, so ensure you access important accounts as often as the provider requires. In respect of cryptocurrency, keep records of the public and private keys associated with your cryptoassets and store these securely. Without these details, it is unlikely your personal representatives will be able to identify or access them. 
2. Check if any of your digital asset providers (Apple, Google, Microsoft etc) allow you to appoint a legacy contact who can access your account(s) after your death. If you do not appoint a legacy contact and fail to leave any login details, your personal representatives may need to apply to Court to access your accounts.
3. To deal with circumstances in which you have lost capacity, you should create Lasting Powers of Attorney to ensure your attorneys have access to manage your accounts whilst you are unable to.
4. You can also create hard copies of sentimental items such as photographs by printing them or downloading them onto a USB stick or other external hard drive. By creating hardcopies, you can ensure your family only access those photographs or videos you have chosen for them to view, rather than having access to the entirety of your account.
5. Review the terms and conditions for any loyalty scheme holders (e.g. Nectar) to ascertain whether you can transfer these points to others on your death by Will or written request.
6. If you own a business, you should consider who may need to access your email account and records relating to your business in the event of your death to ensure your business can continue to operate.
7. If you have specific wishes about memorialisation posts on social media, you should provide written instructions to your executors and, where possible, provide them with memorialisation access in your social media settings.

If you would like to seek further advice in respect of your digital assets and how to deal with them in your Will, our highly experienced and knowledgeable Private Client Team will be very happy to assist. Please contact us here: Contact | Taylor Walton Solicitors

Disclaimer: General Information Provided Only

Please note that the contents of this article are intended solely for general information purposes and should not be considered as legal advice. We cannot be held responsible for any loss resulting from actions or inactions taken based on this article.