Start with the decision that must be made, identify the controlling document or institution, and collect the records a licensed professional or court will need. This page focuses on digital assets.
Issue-specific review test: Digital Assets
The first control question for digital assets is timing: decide whether the authority or transfer must work now, during incapacity, at death, or during later administration.
A reliable digital assets inventory distinguishes originals from copies, current versions from superseded versions, legal title from family understanding, and confirmed designations from draft forms.
A title such as executor, trustee, agent, owner, or beneficiary does not settle the digital assets issue by itself; scope, activation, succession, restrictions, and proof still matter.
Use the digital assets file to request a bounded scope of work: state what must be answered, which materials were reviewed, what is excluded, the fee basis, and the next deliverable.
What this topic controls
- Digital estate planning must separate the asset itself from the device, password, license, account contract, and legal authority to access content.
- A useful plan identifies what should be preserved, transferred, memorialized, closed, or deleted without placing secrets in the will.
Records to organize
- a secure inventory of accounts, devices, domains, and storage locations
- provider legacy settings, fiduciary authorization, and recovery contacts
Questions to verify
- Does the account contain transferable property, licensed content, communications, or only access credentials?
- Which provider tool or legal document controls access?
Risks to pause on
- Sharing passwords can violate security practices or contracts and should not replace lawful authority and provider procedures.
A four-step working sequence
- Name the decision. Write one sentence describing what must be decided about digital assets and by when.
- Identify the controlling record. Locate the signed instrument, title, account contract, agency notice, or court order that governs.
- Confirm authority and jurisdiction. Match the person acting to written authority and the issue to the correct state, court, agency, or provider.
- Act and retain proof. Use the accepted process, then keep the filed, recorded, acknowledged, or institution-confirmed evidence.
Questions for a licensed professional
Bring the operative records and ask the professional to identify the controlling law, available choices, tradeoffs, required formalities, cost, and proof that the work is complete.
Sources to verify
Use the controlling court, agency, statute, provider record, or governing document before relying on a general explanation.