In todays ‘society, we undeniably reside in a world bursting with digital “online” influences; from the likes of online banking, to our social media feeds, handy online shopping and over the last few years the introduction to virtual meetings using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meets. In many ways, Covid 19 provided an inclusive embrace providing a heightened digital footprint in our lives.
When we take a look at our digital positions on these platforms, which include mass parts of our lives through the likes of photos & videos it does portray the question of this – what happens to our digital presence when we pass away?
Well, let’s get into what a digital asset is – digital assets are items of valuable information in a digital form, unlike tangible assets which would be items such as your house or bank account. Your assets are normally obtained through an online account such as Facebook and Instagram which can include photos, videos, emails, e-books and more. Your accounts are accessed by login details (username and password) whether it be sentimental or financial reasons, it is an important of the process to plan accordingly as to what happens to your digital accounts on your death.
Now, while financial assets will be set out within your will which would be the likes of online bank accounts, with sentimental assets the difficulty arises with attaining and accessing the asset – which would mean the control would be passed over to your executors. Unfortunately, there is no holistic approach yet undertaken by these service providers on how these digital assets can be processed and likely will not be recognised by your executors as having any legal authority to access your accounts.
Due to these circumstances, in the present day, it is necessary to process enabling access to our digital assets following death. In light of this, some service providers have recognised this issue and have taken action by creating access, during a lifetime, to have the ability to choose those to be granted access rights on their death:
iCloud/Apple – Apple have taken big steps to allow the ability for their users to add a ‘Legacy Contact’ to their personal account. Every user is reminded that this should be a person the user really trusts to access their data stored within their Apple account after their death – this would be without the gateway to provide Apple with a Grant of Probate. Apple has a service that will provide your chosen digital asset user with a unique access key which would then need to be presented to Apple along with the proof of the user’s death certificate. It is important to note that this would not allow the digital asset contact to access the departed users’ payment details or keychain passwords.
Facebook – This social platform proceeds with similar avenues to Apple in which the user can choose a ‘Legacy Contact’ to take control over certain areas of a digital asset account, with this they will also have the control of deleting or memorialising the account. However, they will not be able to access the user’s private inbox messages nor will they be able to post comments using the deceased identity – only memorial posts about said user.
Google – With Google, they have allowed a range of controls to a user. Users can appoint someone that would be contacted by Google on the event of their death, providing them access to download that users’ data.
Digital assets that have a financial value, such as Bitcoin, can usually only be obtained by a pass key. If you own any cryptocurrency it is very important that the pass key, any other account details related to this and any applications and trading platforms you have used to control and maintain your accounts, should be provided to your executors.
To summarise, it is important to educate yourselves on the importance of digital assets as we will only see an increase of social platforms and online presence as this will be a more common ground with the likes of dealing with a deceased estate. Here at Berkeley Weston we would encourage you to create a list of any digital assets you may have with login details. These details could then be stored securely with your will in which would then only be provided to your executors at the point of your death. This will provide yourself with peace of mind along with the rest of your estate.
Contact us today if you need legal advice and/or need to start the process of probate, wills and trusts then contact our team of legal specialists today who would be more than happy to assist you in your time of need.
