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Whether it’s all the photos on your phone, your Facebook history, or an online-only savings account, you own things that only really exist online - and which your family or friends might want when you’re no longer around.
But if you don’t plan for this, you could be leaving a mess. Your family could be locked out of your accounts, or forced to pay for court orders to retrieve sentimental photos.
Jack Burroughs, a spokesperson for the Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), warns: “It’s very important to plan ahead and decide how to pass on your digital assets. Losing a loved one is hard enough without losing access to financial accounts and their sentimental digital possessions too. It can cause huge distress.”
Here’s your step-by-step guide to sorting it out for free.
What’s on this page?
Most of us no longer have physical photo albums; our memories are trapped ‘in the cloud’. If you die, Apple and Google’s strict privacy rules mean your family cannot simply log in to get them – even with a death certificate.
Jordan Flynn, research manager at SunLife, explains why this matters: “Your online accounts and everything in them are known as digital assets, all protected by usernames and passwords that only you can access.”
To ensure your family can access these memories, you must set a ‘Legacy Contact’ (Apple) or ‘Inactive Account Manager’ (Google). This gives a trusted person a special access key to download your data after you pass away.
In the past, your executors would wait for bank statements to arrive in the post to know where your money was. In many cases, that paper trail has vanished.
Ian Dyall, head of estate planning at Evelyn Partners, explains: “Not too long ago, every investment had a paper trail and, within 12 months of death, a statement would arrive in the post, alerting the executors to the existence of that account or investment. Most people have moved to electronic statements and many accounts are entirely virtual, so this isn’t the case anymore.”
If your family doesn’t know an account exists, the money sits in limbo. This can also happen with investments, shares and pensions.
Do not put this in your public will. Write a list (or use a spreadsheet) stored securely with your will. For all of your bank accounts and other assets, include:
Important: Ian Dyall warns that you must not include passwords. “Your executors won’t need passwords, just a username or email address associated with the account. Once the executors have proved the accountholder has died, they’ll provide access.”
If you hold Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency assets, the risk is much higher. There is no bank manager to call. If you lose the ‘private key’ (the complex password code), the money is gone forever.
Ian Dyall points to a case where a widow knew her husband had more than £100,000 in Bitcoin.
"The solicitor had to record it as having zero value on the probate documents because, despite extensive efforts, the widow was unable to access them following her husband’s death."
Jack Burroughs adds that this can happen surprisingly easily. “It can easily be overlooked and may be lost forever if the proper steps aren’t taken. It can be particularly difficult in the case of self-custody holdings, which cannot be accessed without knowledge of the private keys or a wallet’s seed phrase.”
James Norris recommends sharing the crypto keys with someone you trust. “You may also want to explore the options provided within the cryptocurrency wallet to see if it allows for joint access.”
You need to decide if you want your social media profiles, such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or LinkedIn to remain active as a memorial, or be deleted to protect your privacy.
James Norris, founder of the Digital Legacy Association, says: “Your digital legacy is also shaped by interactions you made, such as online conversations or comments on someone’s else’s social media wall or stream. People used to remember loved ones by looking at a photo album; we now turn to online platforms like social media profiles instead.”
Jordan Flynn says: “Clearly state whether you want accounts deleted, memorialised or passed on, and who should receive content like photos or videos.”
If you don’t make a choice, your family will have to decide what to do with them. In some cases they may even have to apply for a court order to shut them down – a process Jack Burroughs describes as “costly, complex and time-consuming”.
On Facebook, you can appoint a ‘Legacy Contact’ to manage your main profile once it has been memorialised. This gives a trusted person specific powers to look after your digital presence, such as writing a pinned post (ideal for sharing funeral details), responding to new friend requests, and moderating tribute messages to ensure nothing inappropriate remains on your page.
This contact can also request the complete removal of your account or, if you have enabled the feature, download a copy of everything you have ever shared, so that your photos and posts aren’t lost. They won’t be able to read your private messages or remove any friends.
Without this access, Flynn warns, “A grieving family might receive distressing reminders of their loss, like alerts for the deceased’s birthday.”
On Instagram, a legacy contact can update your profile picture, and see and manage your tags. They can’t post or send messages as you, and they can’t see your messages. You can give them permission to download a copy of content that you’ve shared on Instagram.
Neither X nor LinkedIn has a legacy setting, so your family will have to request that your X account is deactivated. For LinkedIn, your loved ones can request to close the account or that the profile is ‘memorialised’.
To set up a legacy contact on Facebook, click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook. Then select Settings and privacy > Settings > Accounts Centre > Personal details > Account ownership and control > Memorialisation > Memorialise account. You can select whether to give your legacy contact permission to download a copy of what you've shared on Facebook.
To set up a legacy contact on Instagram, click More on the bottom left, then Settings > Accounts Centre > Personal details > Account ownership and control > Memorialisation.
You will need to select a contact who is already on Facebook or Instagram.
Once you have your list of accounts, your Apple Legacy Key, and your crypto details, do not write them into your actual will.
Wills become public documents after probate. If you write down sensitive information there, scammers can read it. Instead, print your digital inventory and store it in a sealed envelope with your will, or with your solicitor.
James Norris suggests that sorting this out isn't just about death – it’s about enjoying life now.
"Why not curate your favourite photos and videos and share them today, with stories of the moments they captured? Sharing this now is fun and will inform and influence your digital legacy for many years to come."
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