Digital Assets are becoming increasingly prominent in our day to day lives. We bank with them, shop with them and even share our lives on them but a survey by YouGov revealed a rather worrying statistic – 52% of those surveyed said that nobody would be able to access their Digital Assets when they die because they had not provided any arrangements about what should happen.

These assets have financial, social and sentimental values that mean so much to us during our lives so why are we risking losing them on our death?

Is it because we are detached from them due to their “digital” nature so we do not prioritise protecting them? Are the tech companies at fault for failing to introduce ways of protecting their users? Or does the fault lie with the law? This rapidly evolving area poses difficult questions about privacy, ownership and copyright which we seem reluctant to legislate on, perhaps because of the difficulties in making them conform to our centuries old legal system.

Whatever the reason, executors of estates which include digital assets are often left in limbo, unable to cash in their loved one’s assets and in some cases unable to even find out what they had and where the assets are located. We have not even mentioned (nor will we go into) the debacle of administering crypto currencies or multi-jurisdiction digital assets!

Therefore, the onus is quite clearly on, the holders of these digital assets to put procedures in place whilst still alive. Some may perceive this is only as a domain of the young. However, research by Ofcom in 2018 found internet usage being at 65% among the 65-74s and 53% among those aged 75 and above.

There are ways to safeguard financial assets:

• Incorporate details in the will (this is acceptable only so far as identifying what the assets are. User IDs, passwords and answers to security questions should never be included – remember wills become public documents after probate has been granted);
• Place a list of assets with the will;
• Online companies will keep details of your assets safe; or
• Hand a list to a trusted third party for safekeeping.

What is clear, is that the above recommendations will only work if they are updated regularly. Setting time aside in our fast-paced life for “life admin” is often not a priority but our advice to you is to ensure your record is kept up to date and reviewed at the end of every financial year.

For further advice please contact the Private Client Department at George Ide LLP on 01243 786668 or at [email protected]

Leanne McGauley. Solicitor, Private Client department.

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