What is digital legacy planning?

Digital legacy planning ensures your online accounts, cryptocurrency, digital files, and intellectual property are accessible to your heirs or successors when you are gone.

What digital assets should I include in my estate plan?

Online banking accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, investment platforms, domain names, social media accounts, email accounts, cloud storage, subscription services, and digital intellectual property.

Can my heirs access my cryptocurrency?

Only if they have the wallet addresses and private keys or seed phrases. Without documenting this information securely, cryptocurrency is effectively lost.

How do I share digital asset information without compromising security?

A metadata-first continuity archive records where assets exist and how to access them without exposing passwords or private keys. Lieu & Legacy does not store your passwords or credentials.

What happens to social media accounts after death?

Each platform has different policies. Facebook allows memorization, Instagram allows removal by a verified family member, and Google offers an Inactive Account Manager. Documenting these preferences is part of digital legacy planning.

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Guide

Digital Legacy Planning

Your digital assets are real assets. Plan for them like everything else in your estate.

Why digital legacy matters

The average person now holds significant value in digital form: cryptocurrency portfolios, online business revenue, digital intellectual property, and domain names. Without planning, these assets can be permanently lost or inaccessible to heirs.

Over $140 billion in Bitcoin is estimated to be lost due to inaccessible wallets
Domain names and websites can expire if no one monitors renewal dates
Cloud storage accounts may be deleted after prolonged inactivity
Social media accounts can remain active indefinitely without clear instructions
Digital intellectual property may have ongoing royalty streams

What to inventory

Cryptocurrency

Wallet addresses, exchange accounts, seed phrase location

Online banking

Accounts, bill pay settings, automatic transfers

Investment platforms

Brokerage, retirement, crowdfunding, tokenized assets

Domain names

Registrar, renewal dates, DNS management, monetization

Cloud storage

Files, photos, documents, shared folder access

Social media

Account locations, memorialization preferences

Subscription services

Recurring payments, cancellation instructions

Digital IP

Copyrights, trademarks, online courses, digital products

Security-first documentation

Digital legacy planning requires balancing accessibility with security. You do not want to store passwords or private keys in plain text. Instead:

Record where each digital asset exists, not the credentials to access it
Store master passwords and seed phrases in a dedicated security tool outside Lieu & Legacy
Document credential access instructions for your executor
Use a continuity archive to link advisors and digital asset locations
Update digital asset records whenever you open or close accounts

Platform-specific instructions

Each platform handles account transfers differently. Document your wishes for each major platform:

Google Inactive Account Manager — designate who gets access after inactivity
Apple Legacy Contact — name someone who can request access to your account
Facebook memorialization — choose a legacy contact or account deletion
Instagram — same as Facebook, memorialization or deletion request
Cryptocurrency exchanges — designate beneficiaries where supported
Domain registrars — ensure account access can be transferred

Free Resource

Start with the free checklist

Use the Free Estate Continuity Checklist to organize what exists, where it is located, and who your family or advisors should contact first.

Get the Free Checklist Create Private Archive

Next Step

Document Your Digital Legacy

Record your digital assets, account locations, and platform preferences in a private continuity archive.

Create Private Archive Download Checklist