Your Digital Life After Death: Online Accounts and Assets

Digital assets include online accounts, email, photos, documents in the cloud, social media, domain names, loyalty points and cryptocurrency.

Why it matters

• Some digital assets have money value, such as cryptocurrency, online businesses or payment accounts.
• Others have personal value, such as photos and messages.
• Without access, they may be lost forever.

Planning steps

1. Make an inventory of accounts and devices, kept somewhere safe.
2. Use platform tools, such as legacy contacts or inactive account managers.
3. Mention digital assets in your will and powers of attorney.
4. Keep passwords secure, for example in a password manager, and leave instructions for access.

Your executor

An executor may need a death certificate and proof of authority to ask a platform for access or closure. Each company has its own process, and terms of service can limit what is possible.

Cryptocurrency

Without the keys or seed phrase, cryptocurrency can be lost permanently. Plan carefully, and securely.

Don't put passwords in the will

A probated will can become a public document.

Sources

• Ontario: estate planning and wills
• Ontario: power of attorney

Read next: Beneficiary Designations: RRSPs, TFSAs and Life Insurance

General Ontario legal information, not legal advice for your matter, and reading it does not create a retainer. Sources checked 16 October 2026: check the current law, forms and dates before you act.

Photos from Unsplash: person using laptop · person writing on white paper.

This article is general information for people in Ontario, not legal advice. Rules, forms and deadlines change, and every situation is different. Check the current rule or speak to a licensed legal professional before you act.