You may have online accounts that hold valuable records, business files or other digital property. After your death, your family might not know where to find them or who has the right to manage the accounts that hold them. That uncertainty could make an already difficult time harder.
You can address digital assets as part of your estate plan. Start by identifying what matters, then decide who you want to manage those accounts. Indiana law also lets you give certain directions through a service provider’s online tool or through estate documents.
Make a record of your accounts
Indiana law defines a digital asset as an electronic record in which you have a right or interest. You do not have to record every account you have ever opened. Instead, you might make a record of key accounts that hold files, records or other information your family would want to find.
For each one, you could note the service and explain what you want someone to do with the account. It may also help to store passwords in a secure place rather than put them in your will or other estate documents.
Decide who may access them
Knowing an account exists does not give another person the right to access it. Indiana law sets rules for when a personal representative, an agent under a power of attorney or a trustee may receive certain digital assets from a service provider.
The directions you give matter. If a provider’s online tool lets you change or delete your instructions at any time, Indiana law gives those instructions priority over conflicting terms in your estate documents. Private emails and messages follow stricter rules, so broad wording might not give someone access to their contents.
Review your choices over time
Your online accounts may change as you close old services or start using new ones. You might want to review your list from time to time and check that your written directions still match your wishes. As part of your plans for your property and affairs, it could also help to confirm that the person you chose still has the authority you intended.
