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Digital Assets After Death: Passwords, Crypto & Social Media | Enliven Law Denver
Here is a question most people have never been asked: if something happened to you tomorrow, could the people you love get into your email? Your photo library? Your bank app? Your crypto wallet?
For most of us, the honest answer is no. And without a plan, your loved ones may be locked out of your online accounts entirely — because federal privacy law and each platform’s terms of service, not your family’s wishes, decide who gets access.
What Counts as a Digital Asset?
A digital asset is anything you own or control that exists online or on a device. That includes more than you might think:
- Email accounts and cloud storage — often the keys to everything else
- Photo and video libraries, often the most emotionally valuable asset of all
- Social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and beyond
- Online banking, investment, and payment accounts
- Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and digital wallets
- Domain names, websites, and monetized channels or storefronts
- Loyalty points, airline miles, and subscription accounts
Why Your Loved Ones Can’t Just Log In
Sharing a password may feel like a plan, but it usually is not. Most platforms’ terms of service prohibit anyone else from using your credentials — even a spouse. Federal privacy law restricts companies from turning over the contents of your accounts without proper authority.
Colorado has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which allows your executor, trustee, or agent to access your digital assets — but generally only if your estate planning documents specifically grant that authority. If your will, trust, and power of attorney are silent about digital assets, your loved ones may face months of frustration, or lose access altogether.
The Password Problem
One thing you should never do: list your passwords in your will. A will that goes through probate becomes part of the public court record — which means anything written in it can be seen by anyone. Access instructions belong in a separate, secure document that your estate plan references and your fiduciary knows how to find.
Cryptocurrency Deserves Special Attention
Crypto is unlike any other asset your family might inherit. There is no bank to call, no customer service line, and no court order that can recover a lost private key. If your keys die with you, the assets are gone — permanently. Researchers estimate that billions of dollars in cryptocurrency have already been lost this way.
If you hold crypto, your plan needs a clear inventory of what exists and where, plus secure instructions for accessing wallets and keys — kept up to date as your holdings change.
Social Media: Memorialize or Delete?
Most major platforms now offer legacy tools: Facebook lets you name a legacy contact, Apple offers a Legacy Contact for your iCloud data, and Google’s Inactive Account Manager lets you decide in advance what happens to your account. These tools take minutes to set up — and they only work if you use them while you are living. Your estate plan can then record your wishes: memorialize, download, or delete.
Four Steps to Protect Your Digital Legacy
- Create an inventory of your digital assets and keep it current
- Set up the legacy tools each platform offers
- Make sure your will, trust, and power of attorney expressly grant authority over digital assets
- Store access instructions securely — and tell your executor or trustee where to find them
When we build your Life & Legacy Plan, your digital life is part of the conversation from day one — so nothing you have built, saved, or treasured gets lost behind a login screen.
READY TO CREATE YOUR LIFE & LEGACY PLAN?
Enliven Law serves individuals, single parents, couples, and business owners throughout Denver, Colorado. There’s no pressure, just a conversation about your future.
This is general information, not legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific situation.
Estate planning attorney at Enliven Law, helping individuals, families, single parents, couples, and business owners across Denver and Colorado create plans that protect what matters most.
Enliven Law · (303) 900-1003 · enlivenlaw.com