Your life is online: email, photos, social media, cloud files, maybe cryptocurrency. So what happens to all of it when you are gone? Miami families increasingly ask this, and the answers are not always intuitive. Here is a plain-language Q&A.
What exactly counts as a digital asset?
Think broadly. Email and messaging accounts, photo and video libraries, social media profiles, online banking and brokerage logins, loyalty points, domain names, cloud storage, e-commerce stores, and cryptocurrency wallets all qualify. Some have real financial value; others are priceless for sentimental reasons. A complete Miami estate plan should address both kinds.
Can my family just log in with my passwords?
That is risky and often violates the provider’s terms of service, and accessing some accounts without authority can raise legal problems. The better path is to give your personal representative or trustee legal authority to access these accounts. Leaving a password sticky note is not a plan; it is a liability.
Does Florida law actually let a representative access them?
Yes. Florida adopted the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740), which sets out how personal representatives, trustees, and agents under a power of attorney can access a person’s digital assets. The law respects what you put in your own documents and any online tool the provider offers, so your stated wishes carry weight. Without authority spelled out somewhere, your family may be stuck negotiating with tech companies during their grief.
How do I grant that authority?
In layers. First, use any in-platform legacy tool the provider offers, such as a designated contact for an account. Second, include digital asset language in your Florida will, revocable trust (Chapter 736), and durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) so your fiduciaries are clearly authorized. These documents and the online tools work together, so they should not contradict each other.
What about cryptocurrency held in Miami?
Crypto is uniquely unforgiving. If no one can locate the wallet or the private keys, the asset is effectively gone forever; there is no bank to call and no password reset. Document where holdings exist and how access is secured, but keep actual keys and seed phrases out of your will, since a will can become a public record in probate. A secure separate memorandum or a properly drafted trust arrangement is safer.
Will these assets go through Florida probate?
It depends on the asset and how it is titled. Some digital property with financial value may pass through formal or summary administration under Chapters 731-735, while assets held in a funded revocable trust generally avoid probate. Sentimental items like family photos may not have monetary value but still need an authorized person to retrieve and preserve them.
What’s the simplest first step?
Make an inventory. List your important accounts and where to find login and recovery information, store it securely, and tell your fiduciary it exists and how to reach it. Update it as your digital life changes. An inventory plus proper authority in your documents covers most families well.
A note for Miami families
Digital assets are easy to overlook precisely because they are invisible, yet they hold both money and memories. Florida’s fiduciary access law gives your loved ones a clear path only if your documents grant the right authority. Work with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to weave digital assets into your will, trust, and power of attorney correctly.
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