New York Digital Assets Estate Planning

New York digital assets estate planning decides who can find, access, close, preserve, or transfer online property after death or incapacity. Email, cloud storage, crypto wallets, photos, domains, online businesses, and financial apps can all create estate work if the plan only covers paper records.

New York has a digital-assets statute in EPTL Article 13-A. The statute gives a framework for fiduciary access, but it does not replace good records, platform tools, passwords, two-factor access, or clear estate-plan language.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

Digital assets can include many kinds of electronic records or account interests:

• Email and message accounts.
• Cloud files, photos, and videos.
• Online banking, brokerage, and payment apps.
• Cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts.
• Domains, websites, and online stores.
• Social media and creator accounts.
• Loyalty points, subscriptions, and gaming accounts.
• Password manager records.

Not every account has money value. Some accounts matter because they hold family photos, bills, statements, tax records, or account recovery paths.

New York's Article 13-A Framework

EPTL Article 13-A covers administration of digital assets. The article includes rules for user directions, terms-of-service agreements, disclosure to fiduciaries, fiduciary duties, and custodian compliance.

EPTL 13-A-2.2 gives the user's own direction a central role. If a custodian offers an online tool and the user uses it, that direction can override a contrary direction in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record when the tool lets the user modify or delete the direction at all times.

If there is no online-tool direction, the user may allow or prohibit disclosure to a fiduciary in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record.

Online Tools Come First

Many platforms offer account-level tools. The names vary by company, but the idea is similar: the account holder picks what happens if the account holder dies or stops using the account.

Check these tool categories:

• Legacy contact or memorial account settings.
• Inactive account manager settings.
• Account deletion or data download instructions.
• Emergency access inside a password manager.
• Trusted contacts or recovery contacts.

Use the platform tool when it exists, then make the will, trust, and power of attorney match the same plan. A conflict can slow the fiduciary.

Estate Plan Language Still Matters

If no online tool controls the account, EPTL 13-A-2.2 allows the user to allow or prohibit disclosure in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record.

That means the estate plan needs more than "all my property." It needs digital-assets authority that fits the user's privacy choices. Some people want fiduciaries to see email content. Others want fiduciaries to close accounts and collect financial records without reading personal messages.

A digital-assets clause can address:

• Access to account catalogues.
• Access to content of electronic communications.
• Access to non-communication digital assets.
• Authority to close or memorialize accounts.
• Authority over crypto wallets, domains, and online businesses.
• Limits on private messages or sensitive files.

Ask counsel to match the clause to New York law and the user's privacy choices.

Content Versus Other Digital Assets

New York law treats content of electronic communications differently from other digital assets.

EPTL 13-A-3.1 says a custodian discloses content of electronic communications of a deceased user to the executor, administrator, or personal representative when the deceased user consented or a court directs disclosure and the fiduciary supplies the required records. The listed records include a written request, death certificate, certified letters or court order, and consent evidence unless an online tool supplied the direction.

EPTL 13-A-3.2 covers other digital assets and a catalogue of electronic communications. Unless the user prohibited disclosure or the court directs otherwise, a custodian discloses those items when the fiduciary supplies the required request, death certificate, letters or court order, and any extra account proof the custodian requests.

Here is why that distinction matters: a fiduciary may be able to get account lists, files, or non-message records more easily than the actual text of emails or messages.

Fiduciary Duties Still Apply

EPTL 13-A-4.1 says legal duties that apply to managing tangible property also apply to managing digital assets, including duties of care, loyalty, and confidentiality. The same section says fiduciary authority is subject to user directions, terms of service, other law such as copyright law, and the scope of fiduciary duties.

The statute also says fiduciary authority may not be used to impersonate the user.

That means an executor or trustee needs to act carefully. Logging into an account to impersonate the person who died is different from using authority to request records or close an account.

Cryptocurrency Needs Separate Instructions

Cryptocurrency creates a practical access problem. A court order or letters may not recover a lost seed phrase or private key. An exchange may have a deceased-account process, but a self-custody wallet may depend only on the access records the user left behind.

A useful crypto plan usually records:

• Which exchanges and wallets exist.
• Where hardware wallets are stored.
• Where seed phrases or private keys are stored.
• Who knows how to find the instructions.
• Whether the fiduciary may hold, transfer, or sell.
• Tax records and acquisition history.

Do not put seed phrases in a will. A will can become a court record. Use secure storage and clear directions to the fiduciary.

Passwords and Two-Factor Access

Passwords are not the same as legal authority. The fiduciary may need both.

A practical plan can use a password manager, emergency access feature, sealed letter, secure vault, or attorney-held instruction system. The plan also needs to cover two-factor authentication. If all codes go to a locked phone, the fiduciary may still be stuck.

Track:

• Phone passcode location.
• Authenticator app backup codes.
• Recovery email addresses.
• Hardware security keys.
• Password manager emergency access.
• Instructions for devices used for account recovery.

Keep this information current without putting private passwords in public or court-filed documents.

Social Media, Photos, and Memorial Accounts

Social media accounts may not transfer like bank accounts. A platform may allow memorialization, deletion, data download, or limited legacy-contact actions. The terms and tools vary.

For photos, videos, and cloud files, decide whether the fiduciary can preserve, share, archive, or delete. Family conflict can arise when one person wants privacy and another wants memories.

Leave written instructions for:

• Which accounts matter.
• Which accounts can be closed.
• Which photos or files need preservation.
• Who receives copies.
• Any content that needs privacy.

Executors, Trustees, and Agents

Different fiduciaries may need different authority.

An executor or administrator handles estate assets after death. A trustee handles trust assets. A power-of-attorney agent acts during life if the principal authorized the role and the power remains valid. A health care proxy handles medical decisions, not financial digital assets.

Coordinate the documents. The New York power of attorney guide covers financial authority during life. The New York executor duties guide covers estate duties after death.

Build a Digital Assets Checklist

Start with a list. Keep it somewhere the fiduciary can find.

Review the list after a new phone, new email address, account move, marriage, divorce, death of a fiduciary, or large crypto purchase.

FAQ

Does New York have a digital-assets law?

Yes. EPTL Article 13-A covers administration of digital assets, including user directions, disclosure to fiduciaries, and fiduciary duties.

Can an executor read email after death?

Maybe. EPTL 13-A-3.1 treats content of electronic communications as a protected category. User consent, court direction, and custodian requirements can control access.

Can an executor get non-message digital assets?

EPTL 13-A-3.2 covers other digital assets and catalogues of electronic communications. Access can depend on user directions, court orders, letters, death certificates, and custodian proof requirements.

Do passwords give legal authority?

No. Passwords help with practical access, but the fiduciary also needs legal authority and needs to follow platform rules and New York law.

Where do crypto seed phrases go?

Use secure private storage and leave instructions for the fiduciary. Do not put seed phrases in a will or another document that may become a court record.

Related Guides

• New York Executor Duties
• New York Power of Attorney
• New York Guardianship Planning
• New York Living Trust Guide
• New York Wills
• New York Probate Guide
• New York Health Care Proxy

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Sources:

• "Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Article 13-A," New York State Senate, current statute article page, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/A13-A
• "Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 13-A-2.2," New York State Senate, current statute page, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/13-A-2.2
• "Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 13-A-3.1," New York State Senate, current statute page, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/13-A-3.1
• "Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 13-A-3.2," New York State Senate, current statute page, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/13-A-3.2
• "Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 13-A-4.1," New York State Senate, current statute page, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/13-A-4.1

This guide gives general information about New York digital assets estate planning. It is not legal advice.