Protect Digital Assets with an Estate Plan: A Guide for California Families

Quick Answers: Digital Assets and Estate Planning

What happens to your digital assets when you die?

Without a plan, your online accounts (email, social media, cloud storage, financial platforms, and cryptocurrency) may be permanently locked, deleted by the platform, or left vulnerable to identity theft. Most companies will not grant access to family members unless specific legal documents or account settings are in place.

What qualifies as a digital asset in estate planning?

Anything you access online or store electronically. That includes email accounts, social media profiles, cloud-stored photos and documents, streaming and subscription services, online banking, investment platforms, cryptocurrency, and even domain names or digital businesses.

Does California law allow your executor to access digital accounts?

Yes, under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), codified in California Probate Code Sections 870-884. but your estate planning documents should specifically grant that authority, and platform-level settings like legacy contacts may take priority.

Your digital life is now one of the most valuable things you own, and one of the easiest to lose.

Nearly every account, subscription, and record that matters in modern life exists online. Bank and investment accounts, family photos stored in the cloud, email archives going back decades, social media profiles, streaming services, and increasingly, cryptocurrency holdings. Yet most estate plans still focus exclusively on physical property and traditional financial accounts.

Digital assets estate planning closes that gap. It makes sure that when something happens to you, the people you trust can actually access, manage, and protect your digital life. Having the right documents in place prevents having to spend months fighting with platforms or discovering that irreplaceable accounts have been permanently deleted.

What Happens to Online Accounts When No Plan Exists?

When someone dies or becomes incapacitated without a digital estate plan, the consequences are immediate and often permanent:

• Financial accounts on platforms like banks, brokerages, and payment apps may be frozen. Without proper legal authority, family members cannot access funds, pay bills, or close accounts.
• Email and cloud storage (Gmail, iCloud, Dropbox) may contain critical documents, passwords to other accounts, and irreplaceable family photos. Most providers will delete inactive accounts after a set period or refuse access without a court order.
• Social media profiles may be memorialized, deleted, or left active creating a target for identity theft or scams if no one has access to secure them.
• Cryptocurrency stored in self-custodied wallets can be lost permanently if no one has the private keys or seed phrases. For a deeper look at protecting crypto specifically, see our guide on bitcoin estate planning.
• Subscriptions and recurring charges may continue billing indefinitely until services are notified. Without account access, family members may not even know which services are running.

The common thread is that companies are under no obligation to cooperate with your family unless the right legal authority exists. That is where California law comes in.

How California's RUFADAA Law Protects Your Digital Assets

California adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA, Probate Code Sections 870-884) in 2016. This law gives executors, trustees, and agents under a power of attorney the legal authority to access a deceased or incapacitated person's digital accounts, but only when certain conditions are met.

RUFADAA establishes a three-tier priority system for who gets access:

• First: your platform settings. If you designated a legacy contact or set access preferences directly on a platform (Google, Apple, Facebook), those instructions take priority over everything else.
• Second: your estate planning documents. If you did not set platform-level preferences, your will or trust governs access, but only if those documents specifically grant your fiduciary authority over digital assets.
• Third: the platform's terms of service. If neither of the above exist, the company's own policies determine what happens to your account.

This hierarchy is why coordinating your estate plan with your actual account settings is essential. A well-drafted living trust or will that includes RUFADAA language gives your fiduciary the strongest possible legal standing, but platform-level settings still need to match.

How to Include Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan

Create a Complete Digital Inventory

Start by listing every online account you use. For each one, record the platform name or URL, your username, and the type of asset (financial, personal, social, subscription). Do not include passwords in this document if it will be stored with your estate plan, especially your will, which becomes public record during probate.

Store Access Credentials Separately and Securely

Passwords, PINs, two-factor authentication methods, and recovery codes should be stored in a secure location that your executor or digital executor knows about. A reputable password manager is one of the most practical tools for this. It allows you to store all credentials behind a single master password, which you can share securely with one trusted person. Alternatively, a sealed document in a fireproof safe or with your attorney can serve the same purpose.

Name a Digital Executor

Your digital executor does not have to be the same person as your primary executor. In fact, it often makes sense to choose someone who is comfortable navigating technology and online platforms. Give them explicit authority over digital accounts in your estate planning documents, and make sure they know where to find your inventory and credentials.

Set Up Legacy Contacts on Major Platforms

Several major platforms now allow you to designate someone to manage your account after you die. Google's Inactive Account Manager, Apple's Digital Legacy program, and Facebook's Legacy Contact feature all let you name a trusted person in advance. Under RUFADAA, these settings take priority, so they need to align with the rest of your estate plan.

What Not to Include in Your Will

Because a will becomes part of the public record once it enters probate, you should never include specific passwords, private keys, seed phrases, or detailed login credentials in the will itself. Anyone who accesses the probate file could see that information. Instead, reference the existence of your digital assets in the will and point your executor to the secure location where access details are stored.

Making Sure Your Digital Life Is Part of the Plan

Digital assets estate planning is no longer a niche concern, it is a necessary part of any complete estate plan. The accounts, files, and platforms that make up your online life have real financial and personal value, and without the right documents in place, your family may never be able to access them.

At The Werner Law Firm, our estate planning attorneys help California families build plans that cover every part of modern life, including the digital pieces that can easily be overlooked. If you are ready to make sure your online accounts, credentials, and digital property are accounted for, we can help you put the right structure in place.

If you have any questions, schedule a free appointment with us through our online appointment page.

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