For many people, access to their financial and business assets is primarily online—including bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, retirement plans, life insurance policies, cryptocurrencies, domain name registrations, blogs, and websites. If you do not make passwords, keys, and the identity of these assets known to your beneficiaries or heirs it may be difficult or impossible for them to gain access to these assets at your death.

In addition to these financial and business assets, access to email accounts, phone passwords, computer passwords, home security accounts and passwords, cloud storage accounts, digital photo albums, videos, and social media accounts are often valuable personal assets and methods for accessing other assets. You may want to allow certain members of your family, friends, or other heirs to receive access to these assets and to have authority to bypass, reset, or recover passwords.

You may want to consult with your estate planning lawyer or financial advisor about options for distributing these assets (and providing access to them) by will, trust, or other means.

Many states have laws that govern access to digital assets and the obligations of a custodian of digital assets (including a website or online service provider) to disclose digital assets to a fiduciary such as the executor or administrator of a deceased person’s will or estate. These laws are usually located in a state’s statutes; are a version of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act; and are similarly titled (named) in the state’s statutes.

In Rhode Island, the management and inheritance of digital assets are governed by the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which has been adopted by the state. This act allows individuals to plan for the management and disposition of their digital assets in a similar manner to physical assets. It provides legal authority for designated fiduciaries, such as executors or trustees, to access, manage, or transfer digital assets and electronic communications in accordance with the user's estate plan. Individuals are encouraged to include digital assets in their estate planning, specifying how and to whom these assets should be distributed. This can be done through wills, trusts, or other estate planning tools. It is advisable for individuals to consult with an attorney to ensure that their digital assets are properly included in their estate plan and that their wishes regarding these assets will be honored after their death. The attorney can also provide guidance on how to legally document access information for these assets to ensure that fiduciaries can fulfill their duties without unnecessary complications.