Don't Lose Out – Digital Assets In Estates

According to a recent report from Cooperative Funeral Care on 'Death in the Digital Age' the average UK adult possesses eight digital assets and on-line accounts. Although many of these will have no intrinsic value as part of the estate of a testator under whose Will a charity is going to benefit, the digital revolution has thrown up new types of assets which only exist in digital form and may be more valuable than they first appear. Identification of and access to digital assets are very important in the context of the administration of an estate. Without good records of a testator's digital life, assets may be lost or forgotten, leading to loss to the charity beneficiary.

Although there is no precise legal definition of a digital asset in the context of how such assets would pass under a Will, they can broadly be described as assets or material held in a digital format. This might, therefore, encompass assets which are already covered by the testator's Will; for example assets held within an investment, pension, brokerage, bank or building society account which is accessible or operated on line. Other assets may effectively be chattels, for example films, photographs, and sound recordings among others. These may have no special value but are important to family beneficiaries, and executors must ensure that they are not lost or forgotten. The same might be said about the contents of social networking accounts or other on-line accounts. The importance of these in the administration of an estate is not their value, but making arrangements to access and/or close them following the testator's death; an issue which can cause problems for the executors.

Other types of digital asset may not look like a normal estate asset and it is important to ensure that they devolve correctly under the will. Such assets may also turn out to be unexpectedly valuable. One example is Bitcoin - a virtual currency which only exists on line. HMRC have accepted Bitcoin as a currency and treats it like a foreign currency for corporation and income tax. Bitcoins can be bought, sold and transferred. Not knowing about a Bitcoin account can lose the estate money.

The original content of an email, blog, music or digital art stored on-line, on-line photographs and domain names could also be capable of benefitting from copyright protection and may have a significant monetary value. A YouTube channel can be opted in for monetisation, a partner arrangement with the YouTube...