Most New Yorkers have more of their lives online than they realize: bank logins, crypto wallets, a decade of photos in the cloud, a small online business, frequent-flyer points, even paid social accounts. Yet digital assets are the single most overlooked category in estate plans. Here are the mistakes that leave families locked out, and how NYC residents can avoid them.
Mistake #1: Assuming Your Executor Automatically Gets Access
A Surrogate’s Court appointment under the SCPA gives your executor authority over your estate, but federal computer-fraud laws and platform terms of service can still block access to accounts. New York has adopted a version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which lets fiduciaries reach digital assets, but only if your planning documents grant that authority. Silence often means delay or denial.
Mistake #2: Putting Passwords in Your Will
Your will becomes a public record when filed in Surrogate’s Court. Listing passwords, account numbers, or a crypto seed phrase there exposes them to anyone who pulls the file. Instead, reference a separate, secure inventory and use the online tools many platforms now offer to name a legacy contact.
Mistake #3: Leaving Cryptocurrency With No Recovery Path
Crypto held in a self-custody wallet is gone forever if no one can locate the keys. We have seen NYC families know a relative held Bitcoin but have no way to access it. Document where keys are stored, who can retrieve them, and how, without writing the keys themselves in any public document.
Mistake #4: Confusing Ownership With a License
Many digital “purchases,” such as e-books, streaming libraries, and some music, are licenses that end at death and cannot be inherited. Knowing what you actually own, versus what you merely license, prevents heirs from chasing assets that legally cannot pass to them.
Mistake #5: Forgetting the Incapacity Scenario
Estate planning is not only about death. If you are hospitalized at a Manhattan medical center after an accident, who pays your online bills or manages your business? A durable power of attorney (GOL §5-1513) that expressly authorizes access to digital assets and electronic communications lets your agent step in immediately, rather than scrambling after the fact.
How to Build Digital Assets Into Your Plan
Start with an inventory: accounts, devices, domains, crypto, loyalty programs, and any income-producing online presence. Decide who should manage each and what should be deleted. Then give your fiduciaries explicit authority in your will (EPTL §3-2.1), your power of attorney, and, where appropriate, a revocable living trust under EPTL Article 7 that can hold and pass digital business interests outside probate. Keep your access inventory current; passwords and two-factor settings change constantly.
Consult a New York Attorney
Digital assets sit at the intersection of New York fiduciary law and ever-changing platform rules. A New York estate planning attorney can draft language that gives your executor and agent the access they need while keeping your credentials out of public court files. Bring your digital inventory to that conversation and you will leave with a plan that actually works when your family needs it.
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