Whether talking about Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) or cryptocurrency, digital assets are becoming more commonplace and can hold a huge amount of wealth. Accessing these assets is not always easy. Most forms of cryptocurrency require use of a private key. This key is more than just a few digits. The key is commonly composed of a 64-digit sequence.
We may include a will in our estate plan. Although we use this document to dictate the distribution of our assets, it generally does not include a specific list of assets or, when it comes to digital assets, their pass-codes. Which begs the question: How can we make sure we pass on our digital wealth?
The structure of digital assets alone makes this challenging. An executor, the individual or institution that manages the estate plan when we pass, could reach out to a bank and get information after providing necessary paperwork. This is not the case with digital assets. This leads to increased privacy — one of the benefits of digital assets.
Like most things with estate planning, it is important to think ahead and put together a plan that addresses these issues. When it comes to digital assets, this could include a list of passwords that the executor of the estate could access at our passing. This would require constantly updating the list as passwords change. We can better ensure an updated list is always available by using a password manager program and provide the executor access.
The right answer will vary for each estate. The most important lesson is the need to take extra steps to make sure digital assets are accounted for within the plan.
