Digital assets and your estate

What Are Digital Assets?

The expression digital assets is convenient, but it covers legally different situations: patrimonial rights capable of forming part of an estate, contractual accounts or licences, personal data, electronic records and the technical credentials used to access them.

Examples include:

• e-mail accounts;
• online access to bank and investment services, while the underlying financial assets remain legally distinct from the access credentials;
• cloud storage;
• digital photographs and videos;
• personal computers and external storage devices;
• social media accounts;
• websites and domain names;
• online subscriptions;
• electronically stored business records;
• digital loyalty programmes and online customer accounts.

Some digital positions represent patrimonial rights that may pass under the applicable succession law.

Others concern contractual accounts, licences, personal data or access rights whose treatment after death depends on the applicable law and on the terms governing the relevant service.

The legal analysis therefore depends on the nature of the individual digital asset or digital relationship.

Why Digital Assets Matter

Many people organise every aspect of their financial and personal lives online.

Important documents may exist only in electronic form.

Family photographs may never have been printed.

Business records may be stored exclusively in cloud services.

Online banking may replace traditional paper documentation.

Without proper planning, family members may know that these assets exist but have no practical way of locating or accessing them.

In some cases, the greatest difficulty is not establishing who is entitled to inherit the asset, but discovering that it exists at all.

Legal Ownership and Practical Access Are Different Things

This distinction is often overlooked.

Not all digital positions are inherited or accessed in the same way. Patrimonial rights may pass under succession law, while access to an online account, its contents or the deceased's personal data may depend on contractual terms, data-protection rules and technical authentication measures.

Under Article 2-terdecies of the Italian Data Protection Code, the rights referred to in Articles 15 to 22 of the GDPR in relation to the personal data of a deceased person may be exercised by a person who has an interest of their own, acts to protect the deceased as a mandatary, or acts for family reasons deserving protection.

For services of the information society offered directly to the deceased, the deceased may expressly prohibit the exercise of those rights by means of a written, specific, free, informed and unambiguous instruction, which may subsequently be revoked or modified.

That prohibition cannot prejudice third parties in exercising patrimonial rights arising from the death or in defending their interests in court.

Legal succession, data access, control of an account and practical possession of passwords or other credentials must therefore be kept conceptually distinct.

Digital Records Can Be Just as Important as Financial Assets

Not every digital asset has an economic value.

Personal correspondence, family photographs, genealogical records, research materials and electronic archives may be of immense importance to surviving relatives.

For many families, preserving these materials is just as significant as transferring financial assets.

Organising digital information during one's lifetime frequently prevents the irreversible loss of memories that may exist nowhere else.

Online Banking and Financial Information

Modern banking increasingly operates through digital platforms.

Although the legal ownership of bank accounts forms part of the succession, access to online banking systems usually remains personal to the account holder.

Heirs should therefore avoid assuming that they may continue using the deceased's digital credentials after death.

Instead, financial institutions should be contacted through the procedures established for succession matters.

The bank will then explain the documentation required to identify the heirs and release the assets in accordance with the applicable law.

Passwords and Secure Access

Many people believe that the solution is simply to leave a list of passwords.

In reality, the issue is more complex.

Passwords change.

Security systems evolve.

Some online services prohibit the sharing of login credentials under their contractual terms.

Rather than relying solely on written passwords, a more effective approach is often to organise digital information so that trusted family members know:

• which important digital services exist;
• where essential information is stored;
• who should be contacted if assistance becomes necessary;
• where legal documentation may be found.

The objective is not to weaken security during life but to make administration possible after death.

Social Media and Online Profiles

Many social media platforms provide procedures specifically designed for deceased users, but those procedures operate within the provider's contractual terms and the applicable legal framework.

Depending on the provider's policies, accounts may be:

• closed;
• preserved as memorial accounts;
• made accessible, in whole or in part, to persons entitled under the applicable law or the provider's procedures;
• managed according to instructions previously given by the account holder.

Because these procedures differ from one platform to another, individuals who regularly use social media may wish to consider how they would like these accounts to be handled in the future.

International Families Face Additional Challenges

For families living in different countries, digital communication often replaces traditional paper records.

Important information may be stored in several jurisdictions, under different legal systems and in different languages.

Cloud services may be operated by companies established outside both Italy and the country where the deceased lived.

This international dimension may complicate the practical administration of digital assets and reinforces the importance of keeping personal records well organised during life.

A Small Amount of Planning Can Prevent Major Difficulties

Digital estate planning may combine practical organisation with legal planning, and the level of formality required depends on the nature of the assets and the instructions to be given.

For many accounts and records, careful organisation is an important first step; assets with patrimonial value or instructions intended to operate after death may also require specific legal planning.

Keeping an up-to-date inventory of significant digital services and identifying where essential information can lawfully be found may reduce future uncertainty, without unnecessarily disclosing passwords, private keys or other confidential credentials during life.

The objective is to preserve the information needed for lawful administration after death while maintaining appropriate security and respecting contractual and data-protection rules.

Looking Beyond Traditional Assets

Modern estate planning increasingly extends beyond real estate, bank accounts and investments.

Many people also own digital assets with financial value, such as online business accounts, electronically generated income or other digital rights.

In some cases, individuals may also hold more specialised forms of digital property, including cryptocurrency wallets or other blockchain-based assets.

These assets often require additional planning because access depends not only on legal succession but also on the availability of the technical credentials needed to control them.

Although they may represent only a small part of many estates, they should not be overlooked where they exist.

The Role of the Italian Notary

The Italian notary can assist international families in integrating digital assets into a broader estate planning strategy.

While access to online services may depend on provider terms, data-protection law and technical security measures, the Notary can help coordinate wills, succession planning and the legal organisation of patrimonial digital rights so that they are considered together with traditional assets. The practical accessibility of a specific account or service must always be assessed under the legal and contractual framework applicable to that service.

For international families, modern estate planning is no longer limited to houses, investments and bank accounts.

It also includes preserving digital information, protecting online assets and ensuring that future generations can identify, locate and administer an increasingly important part of their family heritage.

Every digital estate is different. The most appropriate planning strategy depends upon the nature of the digital assets, the countries involved, the legal framework governing the succession and the practical arrangements made during the owner's lifetime.