Secure your digital legacy: Key details to include in estate plan

I'm 45, planning my estate. I want to include and protect my digital assets for my inheritance. How to identify and safeguard them?

- Aditya Chopra

Digital assets include online accounts or digital files. These can be categorized into financial assets (trading accounts, crypto, digital wallets such as Paytm, PhonePe, and banking), personal assets (emails, photos, videos, cloud storage, Google Drive, Dropbox, and blogs), social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, X), and business (e-commerce platforms, domain names, websites).

Many digital assets hold real financial value. Failing to add them in your estate planning can create serious challenges for heirs, such as lost cryptocurrency, unclaimed wallet balances, or inactive accounts vulnerable to hacking. Without clear directives, heirs may struggle to access or manage these assets. Currently, India lacks specific laws governing the succession of digital assets.