The phrase (digital assets) covers a myriad of different and distinct assets, but is broadly understood to mean assets stored in a digital or online form.

It covers information stored on computers, tablets, mobile phones and other devices. It can also cover email accounts, social media profiles and online storage resources (dropbox, the Cloud etc ) as well as financial assets such as balances in PayPal, eBay or online bank accounts.

If no thought is given to the digital assets there is a real danger of significant financial loss occurring due to the executors being either unaware of or unable to realise assets and online accounts, in digital content or stored in an electronic form. There is also potential for significant emotional distress to family and friends of the testator due to them being unable to close social medial profiles or unable to access accounts which could give an insight into the testator’s last thoughts or actions in the case of a suspicious death.

A testator should be advised to make a list of all his or her digital assets and make a note of the method of accessing them. We would recommend the use of ‘digital asset list’