Home / Our articles & publications / Estate-planning in the digital age

Estate-planning in the digital age

With technology opening ever new horizons and online activities becoming preponderant in modern life, a new class of assets has emerged and has been gaining growing importance: digital assets.

Digital assets include a wide range of items:

-    digital records transmitted or stored on the internet or on digital devices (online profiles, electronic documents, photos and videos, email, cloud or social media accounts etc)

-    digital property rights and interests (virtual financial products, virtual currency, contractual rights with online service providers, domain names, online publications, copyrights, patent, intellectual property etc)

Laws in this area are often unsettled despite the increasing attention from legislators worldwide. Consequently, the uncertainty due to the transitioning regulatory framework surrounding digital property makes planning with digital assets challenging. Nevertheless, with the ever-increasing number of private individuals holding digital assets, nowadays estate-planning can no longer overlook this class of assets. Be it for its monetary or sentimental value, addressing digital property has become an essential aspect of estate planning. 

Despite the challenges mainly due to privacy issues, security concerns and uncertainty as to the jurisdiction specific legal and tax considerations, the transmission, storage, management and protection of digital information upon death or in case of incapacity cannot be neglected in today’s age and therefore should be given due consideration in a digital savvy estate plan. 

Properly addressing the disposition of digital assets and their incorporation in a person’s estate plan requires a thorough understanding of this relatively new class of assets. While the planning methods may differ and should always be tailored to an individual’s specific situation and duly considered depending on each type of digital assets, making an inventory of all digital assets is the first step towards a digital savvy estate plan. The further choice of the most appropriate estate-planning tools for placing digital information should be thoroughly discussed with the client.

Raising awareness and recognising the need and the importance of digital estate planning is the most essential part of the estate-planning advice for the digital age.

Authors

Portrait ofChristine Pasquier Ciulla
Christine Pasquier Ciulla
Partner
Monaco
Portrait ofRegina Griciuc
Regina Griciuc
Counsel
Monaco