Guide to Bequeathing Digital Assets Effectively

The ever-increasing number of digital assets that people possess nowadays raises the valid question of how to bequeath these assets, which range from accounts in mobile banking services, online trading and investing platforms, fintech services, and digital life insurance apps to digital side hustles, such as web sites and blog posts, and social accounts.

The question of bequeathing these digital assets is even more pressing as, despite our digital lives, we still tend to think about assets in their physical form, such as real estate. 

What are the most common types of digital assets?

The most common types of digital assets are:

• Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum
• Accounts in digital investment and trading apps and services, for example Robinhood, Fidelity, or E-Trade
• Accounts in fintech applications and services, for example PayPal
• Funds in Digital Wallets
• NFTs (non-fungible tokens)
• Social or other media accounts, such as Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok
• Web sites and online blogs
• Accounts on platforms such as Apple or Google

How do you bequeath digital assets?

Bequeathing digital assets is not complex at all. You need to do a few simple things:

#1 Catalog your digital assets

You can use a digital wallet or digital legacy planing service to catalog and update your digital assets. With such services, your catalog is 24/7 available to you in case you need to retrieve certain information or update the list of assets. 

#2 Designate beneficiaries in your Will

Once you’ve cataloged your assets, designate beneficiaries to them. A great aspect of digital inheritance services is that you can indicate whether your beneficiaries should be informed immediately or only in the case of a fatal event. 

#3 Securely provide access details

Digital inheritance apps provide full encryption of the user data and the highest security standards, which enable people to encrypt access details for their digital accounts when they designate their beneficiaries. This way, the beneficiaries will not only know about the existence of the digital assets but will also be able to access them. Again, the access is handled only within the inheritance apps, for maximum security. 

Are there types of digital assets which cannot be inherited?

There are certain types of digital assets which cannot be inherited – or not fully. This can be confusing, so let’s clarify it right away.

Assets which cannot be inherited are usually accounts for personal use, which you don’t actually own, but “use.” 

The most typical one is your email account. While you own the money in your PayPal account, you don’t really “own” your email account, so in theory you can’t inherit it. 

The same goes for your social media accounts, your Netflix or Apple TV account, etc. 

Still, it’s definitely worth cataloging these in your digital inheritance application! You might ask why, if they can’t be inherited. Because you can still provide access to detailed information and designate your loved ones as beneficiaries. This way, if something happens to you, your loved ones will know how to access these accounts, despite not officially “inheriting” them. 

This is another big advantage of digital legacy planning services, such as DGLegacy® – they can provide value even beyond “simple” inheritance. 

Create your digital inheritance today to protect your digital assets

Digital inheritance apps, such as DGLegacy®, make it very easy for people to protect their digital assets and ensure that in the case of a fatal event, their loved ones will be aware of the assets and will know how to locate and access them.