From online banking and crypto wallets to Amazon accounts and Instagram profiles, your digital assets are more than just logins — they’re part of your legacy. And here in Florida, including those assets in your estate plan is no longer optional. It’s essential.
In a recent survey, Americans said they value their digital assets at an average of $119,516. Despite this, more than 75% of respondents said they have little to no knowledge about ow those assets will be handled if something happens to them. That disconnect can leave families locked out of critical accounts and personal memories — often with no legal recourse.
Florida Law & Your Digital Legacy
Florida follows the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which gives you the power to specify who can access your digital assets after your death or incapacity.
Under RUFADAA, you must explicitly authorize your personal representative or trustee to access your online accounts. If you don’t, providers like Google or Facebook are not legally required — and often not allowed — to release your information, even to your family.
Four Main Roadblocks to Access
Even if your loved ones know where to look, they’ll still face some big challenges without the right legal groundwork:
1. Passwords
Without knowing your passwords, personal representatives and family members may not be able to access your data and property stored on a computer or smartphone, or in the cloud and in online accounts. While experts can easily bypass some passwords, others – like for cryptocurrency wallets – can be practically impossible to recover.
2. Encryption
Your digitally stored data often undergoes encryption for an additional layer of protection. Encryption can happen at many levels, from a single file on your device to large amounts of stored information in the cloud. In particular, smartphone technology may be difficult to decrypt, so if you have not transferred your data to an external hard drive or USB and shared it with other family members, the digital information may not be accessible.
3. Privacy laws
In general, federal data privacy laws prohibit turning over electronic communications by online account service providers unless you are the owner or have the owner’s legal consent. Therefore, social media sites and digital storage companies may lock down content without legal documentation sharing the circumstances under which trusted friends or family members can access it. Taking a digital service provider to court to retrieve treasured data is generally cost-prohibitive, so lawful consent from the owner can prove critical.
4. Criminal laws
State and federal laws do not allow unauthorized access to computer systems and private data. These laws protect consumers against identity theft and fraud, but they also can create enormous obstacles for loved ones who need to gain access to a decedent’s digital information and assets. If you do not give express permission to your fiduciaries, representatives, or family members in your estate plan, they may never be able to access it.
Ways to Access Digital Assets After a Death
Make a list of your digital assets and include important online accounts (social media, banking, bill pay), passwords, and digital property, including cryptocurrency, money transfer apps, and domain names. Store this list in a secure place and maintain its accuracy. Numerous reputable password management apps, such as LastPass and Dashlane, are free and available to make this task easier. On your social media accounts and smartphone, you should also consider setting up legacy contacts.
Many digital assets you think you own, you may not. For example, we tend to carelessly accept end-user license agreements (EULAs) without understanding that a “purchased” item is a nontransferable license to use, but not own, the asset. If you use software of virtually any sort, from PayPal, Instagram, and Google apps to Netflix and Kindle and beyond, your loved ones will not automatically have a right to those accounts after your death.
If you store data in the cloud, it is wise to back it up in another location. Secure online safe deposit boxes or digital vaults tied to your banking institution store identification, legal documents, business contracts, finance, tax, and insurance information. By adding emergency contacts, you can generally make it easier for those individuals to access your documents after your death.
You may also want to scan electronic copies of paper records to store on an external hard drive and in a secure location to keep items updated and permit fiduciary, representative, and family access with fewer obstacles. Relying only on the cloud for backup can create future problems.
Include Digital Assets In Your Florida Estate Plan
You may have more digital assets than you think. Aside from social media, banking, and other, more common types of digital assets, remember to include any:
- Digital videos and photos
- Digital rights to theatrical works, motion pictures, musical, and literary compositions
- Blog content
- Income-producing websites and their domain names
- Virtual currency, including cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or loyalty points you may have earned through different retailers, airlines, or hotels
- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Online video channels that monetize content and produce advertising revenue
- Online gaming avatars offering services on goods online that may be worth actual money
As you create your estate plan, consider it essential to account for your digital property. Our online lives have become pervasive, and laws regarding our digital properties and their inheritable promise continue to evolve.
Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones Locked Out
Your digital life matters just as much as your home, your bank accounts, or your family heirlooms. Whether it’s decades of photos stored on your phone or the revenue stream from an Etsy shop or monetized blog, those assets deserve to be protected so you can pass on your digital legacy.
If you’re in Florida and want to ensure your digital legacy is secure, we’re here to help.
Contact Finley Williams Law to schedule a consultation and create an estate plan that reflects your full life — online and off.