Glossary
Digital Assets
Digital assets include online accounts, cloud files, photos, videos, message archives, subscription histories, domains, and tools used to earn income online. Some have financial value; others hold records or memories.
Why it matters
Some digital assets are sentimental, such as family photos or saved messages. Others have practical value, such as email records, banking statements, business files, or cloud files needed for the estate.
If families do not know what exists, they may close an account before preserving the records or memories stored inside it.
Common mistakes
- Thinking only about crypto or online businesses and forgetting photos, subscriptions, devices, and email.
- Deleting accounts before exporting files or confirming what is stored there.
- Keeping no record of where financially valuable or irreplaceable files are held.
Safer next steps
- List both emotional and financial digital assets in the same planning process.
- Mark what should be preserved first, what can be deleted, and what may require legal review.
- Include where important files live, who should receive them, and which accounts control access to them.