Digital legacy and digital assets: how to make sure your family isn't locked out

What counts as your digital life?

Most of us have far more online than we realise. When I run my Digital Legacy workshop, I ask people to think about eight areas. These are the same eight areas I use in my Digital Life Readiness Checker:

• Main email and recovery: your key email accounts, plus the recovery email and phone number that unlock everything else.
• Devices, passwords and two-step verification: phones, computers, tablets, passcodes, passkeys and any password manager.
• Money and online accounts: online banking, payment services, shopping accounts, stored cards, credit and loyalty points.
• Social media and identity: profiles, messages, online communities, and what you'd like to happen to each one.
• Photos, files and the cloud: photos, videos, documents and backups, wherever they're stored.
• Subscriptions and payments: apps, memberships, streaming services and other regular online payments.
• Websites, assets and income: websites, domain names, digital content, crypto, royalties and online businesses.
• Your wishes and next steps: who should act, where your record is kept, and what you want saved, passed on, closed or deleted.

Try scoring yourself honestly for each one. If only you know what exists or how to get into it, that area is a gap.

Why this matters more than people think

Your main email account is the master key. Password resets for almost everything else go to it. If nobody can get into your email, they can struggle to get into anything.

Your phone is often the second key. It receives the security codes that many banks and apps send. A locked phone with no passcode on record can stop your family in their tracks.

Then there are the things that quietly carry on without you. Subscriptions keep taking payments, and photos may exist only in one cloud account. Providers also have their own rules. Microsoft, for example, says it closes accounts after two years of inactivity. It also says it generally can't give information to anyone who isn't the account holder without a valid court order. That's a long, stressful road for a grieving family.

The golden rule: leave a map, not the keys

Think of it like leaving a spare key with someone you trust. Not all the passwords, just the map.

That means writing down what you have, where it is, and how your trusted person can find the way in, rather than handing over a list of passwords. Many providers' terms say you shouldn't share your login with anyone. A password list also goes out of date the moment you change one.

Please don't put passwords in your will. After probate, anyone can order a copy of a will in England and Wales from the probate service. gov.uk currently lists the fee as £16.

Step by step: getting your digital ducks in a row

1. Start with your main email and your phone. Check that the recovery email and phone number are up to date, and decide how your trusted person would find your phone passcode if they needed it.
2. List your accounts using the eight areas above. For each one, note the name, what it's for and roughly what's in it. Note where the login is kept, but not the password itself.
3. Use a password manager, and look at its emergency access feature. Bitwarden, for example, lets you name trusted emergency contacts who can request access to your vault. Other password managers have their own versions, so check what yours offers.
4. Switch on the providers' own legacy tools. Apple lets you add a Legacy Contact (you need iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, macOS Monterey 12.1 or later), and gives you an access key to keep with your planning documents. Google's Inactive Account Manager lets you choose who is told, and what they can receive, if your account is inactive for a period you set. Facebook lets you choose a legacy contact to look after your profile once it's memorialised.
5. Rescue your photos. Don't rely on one account or one device. Make sure the photos that matter to your family are backed up or shared somewhere they can reach.
6. List your subscriptions and regular payments, so someone can cancel them quickly.
7. Record anything with money attached: online-only bank accounts, payment apps, premium bonds, digital products and crypto. If nobody knows a crypto wallet exists, or where the recovery information is kept, it may be lost for good. Record that it exists and where the secure details live.
8. Decide your wishes for each account: keep, memorialise, pass on, close or delete. Write them down in plain words.
9. Tell your trusted person where your record is, and put a yearly review in your diary.

Do I need a 'digital executor'?

You'll see this phrase a lot. Your executors are the people legally responsible for dealing with your estate. Many people also name a trusted, tech-comfortable person in their notes to help with the digital side. Whether and how to mention digital assets in your will is a question for your solicitor.

Whoever you choose, ask them first and tell them where your record is kept. Then keep it up to date. That's the gift of clarity.

Don't forget: what if you're alive but can't manage?

Digital planning isn't only about death. After a stroke, an accident or a dementia diagnosis, someone may need to pay your bills and manage your accounts while you're still here.

That's where a lasting power of attorney (LPA) for property and financial affairs comes in. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. Registration costs £92 unless you qualify for a reduction or exemption, and gov.uk says it can take up to 16 weeks. Ask each bank how it works with an attorney: attorneys should be set up properly rather than using your login. For more on this, see my guide to Preparing executors and attorneys for their role.

When to see a solicitor or professional

• You want to mention digital assets, crypto or online accounts in your will.
• You have valuable online assets, such as an online business, royalties, intellectual property or significant crypto.
• You're making or registering an LPA and want advice about your situation.
• A family member has died and a provider won't release their account without a court order.
• There's a disagreement in the family about what should happen to someone's accounts.

A solicitor can advise on the legal side. A regulated financial adviser can help with investments and crypto.

Free resource: Digital House Guide

If you'd like a simple place to start, my free Digital House Guide gives you 10 simple steps to help protect your digital and online life and keep it safer and more secure. It sits really nicely alongside this guide.

About the author

Caro Syson, founder, Your Final Matters, Hatfield

Caro Syson is the founder of Your Final Matters, based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. She has spent 35 years in business across financial services, property, software and healthcare, has worked in the NHS and trained as an independent funeral celebrant with the Academy of Modern Celebrancy (AMC). She started Your Final Matters after helping her own mum, now 92, with her later-life planning. Your Final Matters was honoured in the Best New Business category at the Best Business Women Awards. Caro is not a solicitor or financial adviser: she gives practical, non-legal help and points people to the right professional when they need one.