Blind Spots of Estate Planning: Protecting Your Digital Legacy

Despite the increasing reliance on digital assets such as banking applications, cloud photos and business accounts, less than 15% of Americans have included digital estate plans in their wills. Only 53% of estate planners have designated behind-the-scenes handling of these accounts, which has led to family problems with access. As the platform treats accounts as licenses rather than owned assets, legal challenges ensued, and state laws like RUFADAA require explicit references to “digital assets” in the documents. Recommendations include listing assets, updating legal documents, using platform tools such as Google Inactive Account Manager, and safely sharing access details to protect the digital legacy.