Probate for Digital Assets

Yes. Digital assets with monetary value — including cryptocurrency, online bank balances, and monetised websites — form part of your estate and must be included in the estate valuation for probate and inheritance tax purposes. Social media accounts and digital content libraries are generally not included as they have no transferable monetary value.

Cryptocurrency is held on a blockchain and can only be accessed using the private key or seed phrase. Without these, the assets are permanently inaccessible — there is no bank or authority that can recover them. If the deceased did not leave instructions for accessing their cryptocurrency, the assets may be lost forever. This makes advance planning essential.

Generally no. Digital content purchased from platforms like iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play is licensed, not owned. The licence is personal to the account holder and cannot be transferred or inherited. When the account holder dies, the licence terminates. This is a significant limitation of digital content compared to physical media.

A digital legacy contact (or legacy contact) is a person you designate in advance to manage your social media or cloud storage account after your death. Facebook, Apple, and Google all offer this feature. The legacy contact can typically download data, manage the account, or request deletion — depending on the platform's policy.

No. You should never include passwords or login credentials in your Will. Once probate is granted, the Will becomes a public document — anyone can request a copy. Passwords included in a Will would be publicly accessible. Instead, use a password manager and share the master password separately, or store credentials with your solicitor in a sealed letter of wishes.

A digital asset inventory is a comprehensive list of all your digital accounts, assets, and subscriptions — including the platform name, username, account number, and the location of login credentials. It should be stored securely (not in the Will) and updated regularly. Your executor will use it to identify and manage your digital estate.

This depends on the email provider. Google allows pre-authorised access via the Inactive Account Manager. Microsoft may allow next of kin to request content. Apple does not allow account transfer but offers a Digital Legacy feature. Without advance planning, accessing email accounts after death can be difficult and time-consuming.

Most major platforms allow accounts to be either memorialised (preserved as a memorial) or permanently deleted upon proof of death. Facebook allows a designated legacy contact to manage a memorialised account. Twitter/X and LinkedIn allow deletion but not memorialisation. Without advance instructions, accounts may remain active indefinitely.

Yes. Cryptocurrency is treated as a capital asset for tax purposes. It is included in the estate for inheritance tax purposes at its market value on the date of death. If the estate exceeds the nil-rate band, IHT at 40% applies to the cryptocurrency holdings above the threshold. Cryptocurrency is also subject to capital gains tax on any increase in value between acquisition and death.

A hardware wallet is a physical device (such as a Ledger or Trezor) that stores cryptocurrency private keys offline, providing enhanced security. For estate planning purposes, the hardware wallet must be physically accessible to the executor, and the PIN and seed phrase must be stored securely and separately. Without both the device and the seed phrase, the cryptocurrency is inaccessible.