Digital assets and death

In the UK an executor has a general duty to administer the deceased’s estate which includes identifying and valuing all assets settling debts and distributing the remaining assets according to the will or the rules of intestacy if there is no will.

What many do not appreciate is that this duty extends to digital assets as well.

We are in a new world where most of us will have some form of digital footprint and are likely to have one or more of the following digital assets quasi-digital assets and digital pathways.

• Digital assets include cryptocurrencies PayPal accounts e-books and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
• Quasi-digital assets are digital in nature but also exist in a traditional binary world such as online bank accounts for high street banks/building societies. They often have alternative methods that enable bypassing the digital access pathway.
• Digital pathways...