Estate planning
Digital assets and your estate plan
Updated July 22, 2026
Much of what people own and value now lives online: photos, email, social media, online-only bank accounts, cryptocurrency, domain names, and online businesses. Without planning, your executor or agent may be locked out of accounts or unable to find assets at all.
What counts as a digital asset
- Email, social media, and cloud storage accounts
- Online-only bank accounts and payment app balances
- Cryptocurrency and other digital tokens
- Domain names, websites, online stores, and monetized channels
- Digital photos, videos, and documents
- Loyalty points and airline miles, which follow each program's own rules
- Purchased e-books, music, and movies, which are often licenses that end at death
Texas law: who can access what
Texas has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which sets rules for when executors, agents, trustees, and guardians can access your digital assets. It uses a priority order:
- An online tool comes first. If a provider offers a tool for naming someone who can access your account after death, such as a legacy contact or inactive account setting, your choice in that tool generally controls, even over your will.
- Your documents come next. If you haven't used an online tool, your will, trust, or power of attorney can grant or limit access.
- Otherwise, the provider's terms of service apply.
The law also distinguishes between the content of your communications, such as the text of emails and messages, and a catalogue of them, such as whom you wrote to and when. An executor generally needs your express consent to see the content. Providers may ask for a death certificate, letters testamentary, and sometimes a court order before granting access.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency held on an exchange can usually be reached through the exchange's process for deceased account holders. Cryptocurrency you hold yourself is different: if no one can find the private keys or recovery phrase, the assets may be lost permanently, because there's no password reset.
Never put passwords, private keys, or recovery phrases in your will. A will becomes a public record once it's filed for probate.
Practical steps
- Make an inventory of your accounts and where they're held, without passwords, and update it once a year.
- Use the online tools your major providers offer to name legacy contacts.
- Consider a password manager with an emergency access feature.
- Say what you want to happen to your social media accounts, and who should receive your photos and files.
- Keep business accounts in the business's name. Domain names, online stores, and advertising accounts should belong to your company, not to you personally.
- Plan for two-factor authentication. Access to your phone and phone number may be needed to reach many accounts, so tell your executor how to keep them active.
- Store your instructions securely and tell your executor where to find them.
Executors should use each provider's formal process rather than logging in with a deceased person's password. Using someone else's login can violate a provider's terms and, in some cases, the law.
How our documents help
Our Essentials and revocable living trust packages include language authorizing your executor and agent to manage your digital assets, including access to the content of your communications if you choose. Hannah Okafor leads much of our digital-asset planning. See our estate-planning fee schedule.
This is general information, not legal advice.