Updated September 2026. General information only. Platform terms, privacy law, intellectual-property rights, and fiduciary authority vary.
Estate plans now need an inventory of digital property: email, cloud storage, photographs, domains, websites, social accounts, online businesses, cryptocurrency, devices, subscriptions, and password-management systems. A list of passwords alone is not a plan. Authority, access, security, and clear instructions must work together.
What counts as a digital asset?
Digital assets may include content, accounts, contractual rights, records, or electronically stored value. Some assets have financial value; others have enormous personal value. Access credentials are different from legal ownership. An executor who knows a password may still face legal or contractual limits.
North Carolina’s digital-assets framework
North Carolina has enacted a version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. It provides a framework for access by fiduciaries such as personal representatives, trustees, agents, and guardians, while respecting user directions, provider terms, and privacy protections. Review the current statutes in Chapter 36F.
Use provider legacy tools
Some platforms allow a user to name a legacy contact, inactive-account manager, or recipient. These tools can carry priority under the statutory framework and may provide a cleaner path than a general instruction in a will. Review each major account and save confirmation of the setting.
Separate the inventory from the legal documents
Do not put live passwords in a will; a probated will may become public. Use a secure password manager, encrypted vault, or other maintained system, and tell the right fiduciary how to locate it. The will or trust can grant appropriate authority without publishing credentials.
Build the inventory
- email and primary identity accounts;
- phones, computers, tablets, storage devices, and recovery keys;
- cloud storage and photograph libraries;
- financial apps, payment accounts, rewards, and subscriptions;
- cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges, hardware devices, and seed-phrase arrangements;
- domains, hosting, websites, analytics, advertising, and online storefronts;
- social, professional, and creator accounts;
- intellectual property, manuscripts, source files, and licensing records; and
- business communication and accounting systems.
Decide: preserve, transfer, memorialize, or delete
For each account, decide the preferred outcome. Family photos may be preserved and shared. A business domain may need immediate renewal and transfer. A social account may be memorialized. Sensitive personal files may be deleted when lawfully permitted. Instructions should be practical, not merely emotional.
Online businesses and professional duties
Website owners should document domains, hosting, payment processing, vendors, and key contacts. Professionals may have confidentiality and record-retention duties. A fiduciary may need rapid access to stop billing, preserve client data, or transfer operations without reading material beyond their authority.
Cryptocurrency requires special planning
A fiduciary can have legal authority and still be unable to recover assets without keys. Conversely, insecurely stored keys can invite theft. The plan should address custody method, recovery, tax records, and a safe transfer procedure. Do not place a seed phrase in an unencrypted document or ordinary email.
Annual digital-estate review
- Update the account inventory.
- Confirm the password manager and emergency-access method.
- Review legacy-contact settings.
- Back up irreplaceable files.
- Renew critical domains and document registrars.
- Remove obsolete devices and accounts safely.
- Confirm the will, trust, and power of attorney grant appropriate digital authority.
Related resources
- How wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and directives work together
- Estate planning in Huntersville
- Contact Adkins Law
- North Carolina digital-assets statute
Ask Chris: Is sharing my master password enough?
No. A secure access method helps, but the fiduciary also needs legal authority, an accurate inventory, and instructions for what should happen to each asset.
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