After you die, without clear directions, your heirs can be locked out of online accounts. They could lose photos and other treasured memories. Investment funds or loyalty points might sit untouched for years because no one knows they exist or how to access them. 

Here's how to protect them in case something happens.

What Are Digital Assets?

Digital assets are items in electronic form that have personal or financial value. Examples include:

1. Financial Accounts: Online banking or investment portals, payment apps (PayPal, Venmo), cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), e-gift cards, or credit card or airline reward points. 
2. Personal Assets: Cloud photo or video libraries like Apple iCloud or Google Photos, email inboxes, documents, blogs, streaming services, online music and book libraries, gaming or communication apps, and social media profiles. 
3. Business Property: LinkedIn or other professional profiles, domain names, website hosting, monetized YouTube or ad accounts, e-commerce storefronts, AI services, cloud-based workspaces, or affiliate marketing streams.
4. Service Portals: Accounts that keep households or businesses running: utility billing accounts, health-care portals, tax preparation software, home security accounts, or subscription services.

Some digital assets are subject to licensing agreements or a provider's terms of service. These rules affect whether they can be transferred or accessed. 

How Maine's Digital Asset Law Treats Your Online Legacy

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act or RUFADAA determines who may manage your online accounts if you become incapacitated or die.

Generally, the state considers your online accounts in this order:

1. Platform legacy tools: Instructions made through a provider's online tool, like Apple Legacy Contact or Google Inactive Account Manager, take priority over instructions in a will or durable financial power of attorney (POA).
2. Estate planning documents: If you haven't used an online tool, a will, trust, or POA gives a fiduciary — someone legally authorized to act for you — authority to manage your digital assets.
3. Provider terms: If you leave no instructions, the platform's terms of service and disclosure process control who has access. Those rules may limit password sharing or account transfers. They may also require a fiduciary to provide legal documents rather than using your login details. 

Access isn't automatic. Maine law treats private communications such as email content and direct messages differently from other account information. Clear authorization in your estate planning documents is vital.

Rules and provider requirements for digital assets vary; laws also differ by state.

Four Digital Estate Planning Roadblocks

1. Missing Inventory: Personal representatives might not know what exists, leading to inactive accounts or uncollected funds.
2. Legal and Terms of Service Barriers: Using a deceased or incapacitated person's login without authority may violate terms of service or anti-hacking laws.
3. Biometric and Authentication Issues: Relying on Face ID or phone-bound authentication can create barriers if a device is locked or lost. With cryptocurrency, a lost recovery phrase or hardware wallet could make assets permanently inaccessible.
4. Cybersecurity and Identity Theft: Inactive email or financial accounts can become targets for identity theft after death. Unmonitored accounts, stored credit card details, and unused rewards might also expose an estate to fraud, such as fake tax returns or unauthorized credit lines.

Protecting Your Digital Assets

Avoiding these roadblocks starts with a plan.

1. List high-value online property to reduce the risk of losing track of important accounts and assets.  
2. Identify and delete "orphaned" or unused accounts.
3. Store your inventory securely. When noting login credentials, PINs, or two-factor (2FA) backup codes, consider privacy and security. Never put account details, storage locations, or device passcodes directly in a will; during probate, wills become public record. Keep this information in a separate document such as a letter of instruction. 
4. Set up legacy contacts for accounts with those options, like social media profiles.
5. Set up beneficiary designations on financial accounts like bank or retirement accounts.

Creating or Updating Your Estate Plan to Include Online Accounts

• Durable Financial Power of Attorney: During temporary incapacity, authorize an agent to manage digital accounts and access electronic communications.
• Wills and Revocable Living Trusts: Name personal representatives or trustees to access, transfer, or close digital accounts. Even if you state who inherits money in a will, beneficiary designations have the final say.

Review your digital assets and legacy contact settings yearly, especially after replacing hardware, changing phones, or updating passwords. Back up important files, preferably offline.

Your memories, accounts, and online presence deserve the same protection as the rest of your property. Adding them to your estate plan protects your privacy, prevents fraud, and eases the estate settlement process. 

To build an estate plan that secures your digital legacy, contact us online or call (207) 377-3966.