Digital legacy¶
A person's digital legacy is the collection of online accounts, devices, files, subscriptions, and digital property that survives them. It includes email and cloud storage, social-media profiles, photos and videos held on platforms, software licences, gaming accounts, intellectual-property assets (websites, manuscripts, monetised channels), and — for some estates — significant value in cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens.
The defining practical feature of a digital legacy: there is no central register. Every platform, exchange, and provider is reached separately, each with its own bereavement policy and proof-of-death requirements. The closest analogue is the pre-internet pile of paperwork an executor had to assemble from filing cabinets and bank correspondence — except that the digital version is invisible until someone goes looking and is often locked behind multi-factor authentication that the family cannot pass.
The legal status of digital assets in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland changed materially with the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025, which came into force in December 2025 and formally recognises certain digital assets — including crypto-tokens and NFTs — as a third category of personal property under UK law. Previously the law treated them as either physical things-in-possession or contractual rights, neither of which fitted, leaving an awkward grey area resolved only on a case-by-case basis through court decisions. The Act puts qualifying digital assets on the same footing as bank balances or jewellery for the purposes of succession. Scotland is consulting separately on equivalent provisions; as of 2026 Scottish executors continue to rely on the existing common-law and confirmation route. [source: legislation-gov-uk/property-digital-assets-act-2025-2026-05-02.html]
What the 2025 Act does not do: it does not override the terms of service of individual platforms, does not require a provider to release login credentials, and does not recover lost cryptocurrency private keys. The Act strengthens the legal frame; the practical recovery of access still depends on the policies of each provider and on whether the deceased planned ahead.
→ Digital legacy: planning ahead and dealing with online accounts · Managing a deceased person's social media · Estate planning checklist
AfterLoss¶
See how AfterLoss handles information and documents for the Digital Accounts surface that records what online services exist, what to close, and what to memorialise.