Including Digital Assets in Your New York Estate Plan

To include digital assets in your New York estate plan, you must inventory every account and file you own online, grant your fiduciaries clear legal authority to access them under New York’s digital-assets law, and weave that authority into the core documents that already govern your estate — your will, your trust, your durable power of attorney, and your health care proxy. Digital assets are not a separate, standalone plan; they are a layer added to the same coordinated structure that protects the rest of what you own. At Morgan Legal Group, we treat this the way we treat everything: as a personal, one-on-one design built around your specific goals, your family, and the particular collection of accounts and files that make up your digital life.

This guide explains what counts as a digital asset, why New York law requires explicit authorization for your fiduciaries, and how each document in a comprehensive plan does its part.

What Counts as a Digital Asset?

A digital asset is any electronic record in which you have a right or interest. The category is broader than most people assume, and it grows every year. A complete inventory typically includes:

• Financial and currency accounts — cryptocurrency wallets, brokerage and banking logins, payment apps, and online investment platforms.
• Email and communication — personal and business email, which often holds the keys to resetting every other account.
• Photos, documents, and cloud storage — irreplaceable family photographs, scanned records, and files stored with cloud providers.
• Loyalty and stored value — airline miles, credit-card points, and gift-card balances, some of which have real cash value.
• Income-producing and business accounts — domain names, websites, monetized social channels, online stores, and intellectual property.
• Social media and subscriptions — profiles, streaming services, and recurring subscriptions that should be closed or memorialized.

Some of these have monetary value; others have purely sentimental value. A well-designed plan addresses both, because the loss of a decade of family photos can wound a family as deeply as the loss of an account balance.

Why New York Requires Explicit Authorization

Here is the trap that catches unprepared families: most online platforms are governed by terms-of-service agreements and federal privacy law that can block even a grieving spouse or named executor from accessing an account. Without specific legal language, your fiduciaries may be stonewalled by a provider, locked out of a wallet, or forced into a slow and uncertain dispute.

The solution is to grant authority deliberately and in writing, inside the documents the law already empowers. New York’s coordinated framework — a will, trust, power of attorney, and health care proxy working together — is the vehicle. When each document expressly names digital assets and authorizes access, your fiduciaries can act without begging a platform for permission.

How Each Document Carries Your Digital Assets

Your Will (EPTL §3-2.1)

Your will is the document that distributes assets after death and names the executor who administers your estate. To be valid in New York, a will must satisfy EPTL §3-2.1: signed by the testator at the end of the document, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, with proper publication (declaring to the witnesses that the document is your will). If you die without a will, intestacy under EPTL Article 4 dictates who inherits — and a generic state default cannot possibly account for who should receive your cryptocurrency, your business domains, or your photo archive. A personalized will lets you direct specific digital assets to specific people and grant your executor authority to access, manage, and distribute them.

Learn more on our Wills page.

Your Trust (EPTL Article 7)

Trusts under EPTL Article 7 let you hold and pass assets outside the probate process. A revocable living trust avoids probate so that a successor trustee can step in immediately to manage digital holdings without a court delay — though note it provides no estate-tax savings. An irrevocable trust is used for tax reduction, asset protection, and Medicaid planning (subject to the 5-year look-back), and a Supplemental Needs Trust under EPTL 7-1.12 preserves a beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits. High-value crypto or a monetized online business may belong in a trust for both continuity and protection.

Explore options on our Trusts page.

Your Durable Power of Attorney (GOL §5-1513)

Death is not the only event that can lock you out of your digital life. Incapacity can do the same. A durable power of attorney under GOL §5-1513 — durable by default, executed on the 2021 statutory short form — lets your chosen agent manage your finances and accounts if you cannot. Properly drafted, it authorizes that agent to access and administer your digital assets during your lifetime, paying bills, managing investments, and preventing accounts from lapsing.

Read more on our Power of Attorney page.

Your Health Care Proxy (Public Health Law Article 29-C)

A health care proxy under New York Public Health Law Article 29-C appoints an agent to make medical decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. It is distinct from the financial power of attorney, and while it does not directly govern your crypto wallet, it completes the coordinated plan that ensures every dimension of your life — medical and financial — is in trusted hands.

A Personalized Inventory: The First Step

Asset Type	Examples	Who Should Have Authority
Currency	Crypto wallets, payment apps	Executor / Trustee
Financial	Brokerage, banking logins	Agent under POA / Executor
Sentimental	Photos, cloud storage, email	Named beneficiary / Executor
Income-producing	Domains, online stores, IP	Trustee / Executor
Stored value	Miles, points, gift cards	Executor

We help you build this inventory privately and securely, then map each line to the document and fiduciary best suited to it.

Digital Assets and the 2026 New York Estate Tax

Digital assets count toward the value of your taxable estate, so high-value holdings — a large crypto position, a profitable online business — can carry real tax consequences. For 2026, New York’s basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 for deaths on or after January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. New York imposes a “cliff” at 105% of that exclusion — $7,717,500 — and an estate that exceeds the cliff loses the entire exemption, becoming taxable from the first dollar. Rates are progressive, from 3% to 16%. New York has no gift tax, but gifts made within three years of death are added back to the taxable estate. A volatile crypto valuation can push an estate over the cliff unexpectedly, which is precisely why personalized planning matters.

See our New York Estate Tax Guide for the full picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my executor automatically access my online accounts?
Not automatically. Provider terms of service and privacy law can block access unless your will, trust, or power of attorney expressly grants your fiduciary authority over digital assets. Explicit drafting is what unlocks access.

Should I just write my passwords in my will?
No. A will becomes a public document through probate, so passwords or private keys placed in it could be exposed. We use the will to grant authority and direct distribution, while sensitive credentials are stored separately in a secure inventory.

What happens to my cryptocurrency if I die without a plan?
Without access to the wallet’s private keys and without legal authority granted to a fiduciary, cryptocurrency can be permanently lost. Intestacy under EPTL Article 4 also decides who inherits — and that default may not match your wishes.

Does a revocable living trust help with digital assets?
Yes. It lets a successor trustee manage digital holdings immediately without probate delay, providing valuable continuity — though it offers no estate-tax savings on its own.

Speak With a New York Estate Planning Attorney

Your digital life deserves the same careful, personalized attention as the rest of your estate. Morgan Legal Group, led by Russel Morgan, Esq., designs coordinated plans — will, trust, power of attorney, and health care proxy — tailored to your specific goals and the particular collection of accounts and files you’ve built across a lifetime online.

Start with our Estate Planning Overview, then schedule a one-on-one consultation.

Book your 30-minute consultation with Russel Morgan, Esq. →