What is your digital estate?
Your digital estate includes every online account, service, subscription, file and digital asset connected to you. In today's world, much of what matters — financially and emotionally — lives online.
This might include:
- Email accounts and cloud-stored documents
- Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X)
- Online banking and investment platforms
- Cloud photo storage — iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive
- Streaming and subscription services
- Cryptocurrency and digital financial assets
- Online shopping accounts and loyalty memberships
- Password managers
- Digital business assets, domain names, creator income accounts
Some of these have financial value. Others have enormous emotional value. Many have both — and all of them will need to be managed by someone after you're gone.
Why digital estate planning matters for Australians
Families often don't realise how much practical life administration now depends on digital access. Without passwords or clear instructions, tasks that should take minutes can take months.
Without access to the right accounts, loved ones may struggle to:
- Access important documents stored in email or cloud drives
- Identify which subscriptions are actively charging
- Notify government agencies and service providers of the death
- Recover treasured photos and personal memories
- Close social media accounts or request memorialisation
- Locate financial accounts, super funds, or digital assets
In some cases, digital accounts remain active — and actively billing — for months or years after a death, simply because no one knew they existed. For families already managing funeral costs and estate administration, unexpected charges create additional stress at the worst possible time.
What happens to social media accounts when an Australian dies?
Social media is often the most visible part of someone's digital legacy — and each platform handles death differently. Without clear instructions from you, your family will be left making difficult decisions about your online presence at an already overwhelming time.
Facebook allows accounts to be memorialised or removed. A memorialised account adds the word "Remembering" before the person's name and freezes certain settings. A designated legacy contact can manage the account after death. Account removal requires proof of death — typically a death certificate or obituary.
Instagram offers memorialisation (the account is preserved as a place of remembrance and no longer appears in public spaces like Explore) or full removal. Both require a request from a verified family member or next of kin.
LinkedIn will close a deceased member's account upon verified request. The profile is removed entirely — there is no memorialisation option.
X (formerly Twitter)
X allows an account to be deactivated following the death of a user. This must be requested by an immediate family member or a verified representative.
The time and effort required to navigate each platform's process adds up quickly. Documenting your social media preferences in advance removes the burden of these decisions from your family entirely.
Email — the key to everything
Email is often the backbone of someone's entire digital life. Bills, financial correspondence, subscription notifications, account verification links — they all run through a single address. Without access to it, families may not even know what accounts exist, making practical administration significantly harder.
Even identifying active memberships or locating financial information can become difficult without email access. If you want someone to be able to manage this efficiently, documenting account details securely — and storing them somewhere findable — can make an enormous difference.
Photos, memories and cloud storage
Some of the most emotionally important digital assets are personal memories. Treasured family photos and videos may be stored across multiple platforms — and family members may have no idea where to look, or how to access them.
A simple note about where digital memories are kept, and how to access them, can protect something irreplaceable.
Important Documents Locator
Record where your Will, super, insurance and digital accounts are stored. Print and leave with your executor — nothing is saved online.
Subscription services and recurring charges
Digital subscriptions do not cancel themselves when someone dies. Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, Apple subscriptions, cloud storage plans, software memberships, online publications — these will continue to charge until someone actively cancels them.
For families already managing funeral costs, estate administration, and grief, discovering unexpected recurring charges adds unnecessary stress. Keeping a record of active subscriptions — and leaving instructions about what should be cancelled — is a small act of consideration with meaningful practical impact.
Online banking and digital financial accounts
Many Australians now manage their finances primarily through digital platforms — banking apps, investment platforms, buy-now-pay-later services, share trading platforms, and online payment services like PayPal.
Accessing or managing these accounts after death follows formal legal processes (typically requiring a death certificate and grant of probate or letters of administration). However, simply identifying what exists can be difficult if loved ones have no visibility into what accounts are held. Planning ahead reduces uncertainty and speeds up estate administration.
Cryptocurrency and digital assets with financial value
Some digital assets may have significant monetary value that is easily lost without proper planning. This includes:
- Cryptocurrency held in personal wallets (Bitcoin, Ethereum and others)
- PayPal and digital payment balances
- Domain names and online stores
- Creator income accounts and monetised platforms
- Digital intellectual property
- NFTs and other digital collectibles
Unlike bank accounts, cryptocurrency held in a personal wallet cannot be recovered without the private key or seed phrase. If no one knows these exist, they may never be recovered — regardless of their value. As more Australians hold digital assets, this is an increasingly important part of estate planning.
Passwords and account access
The biggest practical challenge in digital estate administration is almost always access. Without passwords, even basic tasks become complicated or impossible.
That doesn't mean writing passwords on paper and storing them unsafely. Practical approaches include:
- Using a reputable password manager and documenting how to access it
- Keeping a secure, updated list of key account details stored with your Will or important documents
- Clearly noting where essential information is stored and who should be told
The goal isn't to share every password during your lifetime — it's to reduce confusion after. A trusted executor or family member knowing where to look is enough.
Digital wishes — beyond the practical
Digital estate planning isn't only about administration. It's also about personal preferences — and those preferences matter.
Consider documenting your wishes around:
- Whether social media profiles should remain active, be memorialised, or be deleted
- Whether private messages and correspondence should be preserved or removed
- Whether family members should be able to access your personal photos and files
- Whether any digital content should be shared, archived, or kept private
These are personal decisions. But leaving them undocumented means someone else will make them — without knowing what you would have wanted.
A practical digital planning checklist for Australians
To get started with digital estate planning, consider documenting the following:
- A list of important online accounts — email, banking, social media
- Active subscription services and how to cancel them
- Social media preferences — memorialise, close, or leave active
- Where digital photos and personal files are stored
- Password management instructions — where the master list or manager is kept
- Any cryptocurrency or digital financial assets and how to access them
- Email account access guidance for your executor
- Your preferences around memorialisation and deletion
Keep this information secure, store it somewhere your executor will find it, and review it every year as your accounts change.
Plan ahead for the people you love.
Record your wishes, store your documents, and leave a clear guide — so difficult times feel a little less overwhelming.