By Michael Henley, CFP®, CPWA®, CRPC®, RMA®

Most estate plans address physical property and financial accounts, but they may not clearly address the growing collection of online accounts, digital records, and cryptocurrency a family may need to manage after a death. A digital estate plan can help your executor and loved ones identify those assets, understand your wishes, and work through the appropriate access process without exposing sensitive credentials.

That plan is not a substitute for legal advice or estate documents. It is a practical companion to them: an organized inventory, clear authority for the people you name, and account-level instructions where platforms offer them.

What Counts as a Digital Asset?

Digital assets are broader than social media accounts or cryptocurrency. Pennsylvania's digital-assets law defines the term as an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. The definition does not automatically include the underlying asset or liability connected to that record. You can review the statutory framework in Pennsylvania's Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.

For planning purposes, it may help to sort digital assets into three groups:

  • Financial assets and accounts: Online bank and brokerage accounts, digital payment services, rewards programs, online businesses, cryptocurrency exchange accounts, and self-custodied cryptocurrency wallets.
  • Personal records and property: Email, cloud-stored photos and documents, social media profiles, websites, domain names, and digital media libraries.
  • Operational accounts: Software subscriptions, recurring charges, password managers, business platforms, and tools used to manage household finances.

The goal is not to make every account public to your family. It is to make the existence of important accounts discoverable to the people you have chosen, while keeping account access secure during your lifetime.

Why Online Accounts Can Create Estate-Administration Challenges

A surviving spouse or executor may need more than a username and password to manage an account after death. Each provider has its own terms, documentation requirements, and process for handling a deceased user's account. Estate documents, court authority, platform tools, and federal or state law can all affect what a fiduciary may request or receive.

Pennsylvania law provides a process for fiduciary access to certain digital assets. It also gives weight to a user's direction, including an online tool offered by a custodian, and it interacts with applicable terms-of-service agreements. The practical result is that access can be more straightforward when the estate plan, account settings, and account inventory point in the same direction.

This matters for practical reasons. Family members may need to identify automated bill payments, locate tax documents, manage a business account, preserve family photos, or close accounts that are no longer needed. A current inventory can reduce uncertainty during a difficult period, although it cannot guarantee access or a particular result.

Cryptocurrency Requires Its Own Plan

Cryptocurrency deserves separate attention because the way it is held can determine whether anyone can access it later.

When cryptocurrency is held through an exchange or other custodian, the executor may need to follow that institution's estate process. When it is held in a self-custodied wallet, access commonly depends on the private key or recovery phrase associated with the wallet. Without the information and instructions needed to locate and use that access method, recovery may be difficult or impossible.

The answer is not to put private keys or recovery phrases into a will. A will can become public through probate. Instead, work with an estate-planning attorney and cybersecurity-aware professionals to establish a secure process for recording the existence of cryptocurrency, where it is held, and how an authorized person can obtain the necessary instructions. The right approach depends on the family's circumstances, the custody arrangement, and the security risks involved.

Four Building Blocks of a Digital Estate Plan

A useful digital estate plan can be organized around four practical steps.

1. Keep a secure inventory

Create a current inventory of meaningful accounts and digital property. For each item, note the provider, the account's purpose, where relevant records are stored, and who should be notified. For financial accounts, include enough detail that an executor can identify the institution without turning the inventory into a list of easily misused credentials.

A password manager with an emergency-access feature, a secure digital vault, or a protected physical record may be appropriate options. Review the arrangement periodically, particularly after a new account, business change, move, or update to your estate documents.

2. Coordinate with your estate-planning documents

Ask your estate-planning attorney whether your will, trust, power of attorney, and other relevant documents clearly authorize the appropriate fiduciaries to deal with digital assets. The language should be tailored to your state law and personal circumstances.

This is an important distinction: a credential list is not the same as legal authority, and legal authority is not the same as a secure way to find the account. A complete process addresses both.

3. Use platform tools when available

Some major providers offer account-level legacy or inactivity settings. These tools may allow you to name a contact, choose what happens after a period of inactivity, or request memorialization.

These settings do not replace estate documents, and each provider's rules can change. They can, however, provide a direct way to communicate selected wishes to that provider. Consider reviewing them alongside your broader estate plan.

4. Leave instructions, not passwords, in your will

Do not put passwords, private keys, or recovery phrases in a will. Probate filings can become public records, creating obvious security concerns. Instead, let your will or trust refer generally to an up-to-date, secure inventory and consult an attorney about the legal authority your executor or trustee needs.

A trusted person should know that the inventory exists and how to access it at the appropriate time. That person may be your executor, trustee, spouse, adult child, attorney, or another individual you select based on your plan and relationships.

Questions to Discuss With Your Family and Professionals

Digital estate planning often begins with a conversation rather than a complex project. Consider these questions:

  • Could the people you have named identify your important financial accounts and online subscriptions?
  • Do your estate documents address digital assets and electronic communications?
  • Have you identified cryptocurrency holdings and their custody arrangements without disclosing sensitive access information in an insecure place?
  • Have you reviewed the legacy or inactivity settings for your main email, cloud-storage, and social-media accounts?
  • Does your executor know where to find your secure account inventory?
  • Have you updated this information after changes in family circumstances, business ownership, or account providers?

Families facing these questions may also want to revisit beneficiary designations and the overall structure of their estate plan. The estate-planning services at Brandywine Oak are designed to help families coordinate the financial side of those conversations with the professionals preparing their legal documents.

How Digital Assets Fit Into a Family Wealth Plan

Digital assets are part of the same larger picture as retirement accounts, beneficiary designations, cash flow, taxes, insurance, and family goals. They should be considered alongside the legal documents that direct an estate, not treated as an afterthought.

At Brandywine Oak Private Wealth, we help families organize the financial considerations that can inform conversations with estate-planning attorneys and tax professionals. Any strategy should be evaluated in light of individual circumstances, including the nature of the assets, the people named to act, and the family's security practices.

If you would like to discuss how your digital assets fit into your broader estate-planning picture, start your financial journey with our team.

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Assets and Estate Planning

Can my family access my online accounts after I die?

It depends on the account, the provider's process, your estate documents, and any account-level directions you established. Pennsylvania's digital-assets law provides a framework for fiduciary access, but it does not make every account automatically accessible. An estate-planning attorney can advise on the authority your executor or trustee may need.

What happens to cryptocurrency if I die without leaving instructions?

The result can depend on how the cryptocurrency is held. A custodian may have an estate process, while access to a self-custodied wallet may depend on private keys or recovery information. Documenting the existence and custody of cryptocurrency through a secure, carefully designed process can help reduce the risk that important information is unavailable when it is needed.

Should I include my passwords in my will?

Generally, no. A will may become public during probate, so passwords and recovery information should not be included in it. A separate secure inventory, paired with appropriate legal authority in estate documents, is usually a safer topic to discuss with your attorney.

What is a digital legacy contact?

A digital legacy contact is a person you name through an account provider's settings to receive specified access or manage certain account actions after death. The available permissions vary by provider. Review each platform's current rules before relying on the setting as part of your plan.

How do digital assets fit into estate planning?

They add an account-access and information-management layer to a traditional estate plan. A coordinated approach may include a secure inventory, fiduciary authority in legal documents, selected platform settings, and regular updates as accounts and family circumstances change.

About Michael

Michael Henley, CFP®, CPWA®, CRPC®, RMA®, is the Founder and CEO of Brandywine Oak Private Wealth. He works with individuals and families on coordinated financial planning, including retirement, tax, estate, investment, and risk-management considerations.