Most estate plans were written before the digital economy existed in any meaningful way. A will drafted ten or fifteen years ago almost certainly says nothing about cryptocurrency, online financial accounts, digital business assets, or the dozens of accounts that accumulate over a lifetime of internet use.
When someone dies without instructions for their digital property, the people left behind often cannot access it, transfer it, or even confirm it exists. As digital assets become a larger part of personal wealth, the gap between what people own online and what their estate plans address has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
What Counts as a Digital Asset
The category is broader than most people initially assume. Digital assets include anything stored electronically that has value, access rights, or both. That definition covers a wide range of property that heirs may not know exists, and fiduciaries may not be able to access without proper planning.
Common Digital Assets in Florida Estates
- Cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens, are held in wallets or on exchanges
- Online brokerage and investment accounts accessed only through digital platforms
- PayPal, Venmo, and other payment accounts with balances
- Domain names and websites with ongoing revenue or resale value
- Digital storefronts, social media accounts with monetization, and online business assets
- Loyalty points, airline miles, and rewards balances that can have significant value
- Cloud-stored files, photos, and creative work with intellectual property value
- Email accounts that may contain financial records, contracts, or communications needed for estate administration
- Subscription services, software licenses, and purchased digital media libraries
The challenge with digital assets is not just their value. It is their invisibility. A house shows up in property records. A bank account appears on a tax return. Cryptocurrency in a private wallet and a domain generating monthly revenue may leave no paper trail at all unless the owner deliberately documents them.
Florida's Law on Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets
Florida adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in 2016, codified in Chapter 740 of the Florida Statutes. The law was designed to give fiduciaries, including personal representatives, trustees, and agents under a power of attorney, a legal pathway to access digital accounts and property on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated person. Florida Legislature Official Statutes
The law matters because, without it, accessing someone else's account, even after death, can conflict with federal computer fraud statutes and the terms of service agreements that govern most online platforms. Florida's act provides a structured legal basis for fiduciary access that both the personal representative and the platform can rely on.
What the Law Actually Covers and Where It Falls Short
Florida's fiduciary access to digital assets framework gives personal representatives the right to access a catalog of digital assets and certain content when the deceased has authorized it. The structure works in layers:
- Online tool designation: many platforms, including Google and Facebook, allow users to designate what happens to their account after death through built-in tools. These designations take priority over everything else, including a will.
- Will or trust instructions: if no online tool designation exists, explicit instructions in a will or trust govern access.
- Default rules: if neither of the above exists, Florida's default rules apply, which generally allow access to a catalog of assets but not necessarily to the content of communications.
The gap in the law is significant. A fiduciary can access a list of what accounts exist. Accessing the content of emails, messages, and stored files requires explicit authorization from the account holder, and most people have never provided it. For estate administration purposes, that means a personal representative may be able to confirm that an email account exists but cannot read the messages that contain financial records, business communications, or account credentials needed to locate and access other assets.
Why a Will Alone Is Not Enough
A will that says "I leave all my digital assets to my spouse" creates legal entitlement without practical access. The spouse inherits the right to the assets. Obtaining them is a separate problem entirely.
Cryptocurrency estate planning illustrates this clearly. Cryptocurrency held in a self-custody wallet is controlled by a private key, a string of characters that functions as the only password. There is no customer service line. There is no account recovery process. If the private key is not documented and accessible to someone after the owner dies, the cryptocurrency is permanently inaccessible, regardless of what the will says. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, has estimated that roughly 20% of all Bitcoin in circulation may be permanently lost, much of it in wallets whose owners died without leaving access instructions.
Exchange-held cryptocurrency presents a different but related problem. Exchanges require identity verification and account credentials to grant access. A personal representative can present letters of administration and a death certificate and still face significant delays or outright refusal if the account does not have designated beneficiaries or the exchange's internal process is not followed precisely.
| Asset Type | Common Access Challenge | Planning Solution |
| Self-custody cryptocurrency | Private key or recovery phrase unknown or undocumented | Document recovery phrase in a secure location; reference in estate plan |
| Exchange-held cryptocurrency | Exchange requires identity verification; no beneficiary designation on file | Add beneficiary designation where available; document account details in inventory |
| Online financial accounts | Login credentials unknown; two-factor authentication blocks access | Password manager with fiduciary access; explicit authorization in estate documents |
| Email accounts | Content access requires explicit authorization under Florida law | Authorize content access in will or trust; use platform legacy tools |
| Domain names and websites | Registrar access requires login; value may be time-sensitive | Document registrar credentials; include in digital asset inventory |
| Social media with monetization | Platform terms of service may restrict transfer; revenue may stop without access | Use platform legacy contact tools; authorize fiduciary access in estate documents |
| Loyalty points and rewards | Often non-transferable by default; value forfeited without timely claim | Document accounts in inventory; contact programs promptly after death |
How to Plan for Digital Assets Properly
A complete digital estate planning checklist addresses three things: documentation, authorization, and instruction. All three are necessary. Documentation alone does not authorize access. Authorization without documentation leaves fiduciaries unable to find what they are looking for. Instruction without either produces entitlement without access.
Documentation: Creating a Digital Asset Inventory
The starting point is a written inventory of digital assets. This document should include account names, platform URLs, usernames, and enough information for a fiduciary to locate and identify each asset. It should not include passwords directly in a will or trust, because those documents become part of the public record in probate. Instead, the inventory should reference a secure location where credentials are stored, such as a password manager, an encrypted document, or a physical record kept in a secure location known to the fiduciary.
The inventory needs to be maintained. Digital accounts change. Cryptocurrency moves between wallets. A list that was accurate two years ago may be substantially incomplete today.
Authorization: Updating Your Estate Planning Documents
Your will, trust, and power of attorney should explicitly authorize your fiduciaries to access, manage, transfer, and, if appropriate, close your digital accounts. Under Florida's law, this explicit authorization expands what a fiduciary can do beyond the default rules. Without it, access is limited to the catalog level, and content, which often contains the information needed to locate financial assets, remains off limits.
For cryptocurrency specifically, the estate plan should address how private keys and wallet recovery phrases are to be stored and transferred. A hardware wallet with no documented recovery phrase is an inheritance trap. Many families discover this only after a cryptocurrency owner dies, when assets cannot be accessed despite clear inheritance instructions.
Instruction: Using Platform Tools While You Can
For major platforms with legacy or inactive account management tools, using those tools while you are healthy and competent is one of the most effective steps available. Google's Inactive Account Manager and Facebook's Legacy Contact designation take priority over a will under Florida's fiduciary access framework. Setting them up takes minutes and removes significant uncertainty for the people who will manage your affairs.
The Digital Executor Question
Some estate plans now name a digital executor, a person designated specifically to manage digital assets, either as the personal representative or as a defined role within a trust. The concept is practical. Managing cryptocurrency, online business assets, and digital accounts requires a different skill set than managing real property or financial accounts at traditional institutions.
Whether a separate digital executor makes sense depends on the complexity of the digital estate and the capabilities of the people involved. What matters more than the title is that whoever is responsible for digital assets has the authorization, the documentation, and the technical knowledge to act effectively. A personal representative who has never held cryptocurrency and has no documented access to wallet credentials is not in a position to protect that asset, no matter what the will says.
Online Accounts and Digital Assets Need a Plan Too.
Planning for What You Actually Own
The gap between the digital economy and traditional estate planning is real. Florida's fiduciary access law provides an important framework, but it cannot create access to assets that were never documented or authorize actions that were never addressed in an estate plan. For families with cryptocurrency, online financial accounts, digital businesses, or valuable online records, those omissions can have real financial consequences.
The good news is that digital asset planning is usually less complicated than people expect. The challenge is not understanding the law. It is taking inventory of what exists, documenting how it can be accessed, and making sure estate planning documents reflect those realities. A complete estate plan should account for everything you own, whether it exists in a safe deposit box, a brokerage account, or behind a password.