§ Estate Planning — Digital Assets
Your estate no longer fits inside a filing cabinet.
Cryptocurrency, cloud storage, online businesses, and digital records now sit alongside your home and savings — and Texas law treats them differently. We help you plan for both.
Reviewed by Artie A. Pennington, Esq.
Protecting Digital Assets Through Estate Planning in Texas
As more personal and financial information moves online, digital assets have become an important part of modern estate planning. At Artie Pennington Law, we help individuals and families throughout Texas address digital assets as part of a comprehensive estate plan, including how these electronic records may be accessed, managed, and transferred according to their wishes.
From online accounts and digital records to electronically stored information connected to property, finances, or personal matters, digital assets can create unique planning considerations. Proper estate planning can help clarify who may have authority to handle these assets and reduce uncertainty for loved ones when they are needed most.
Under § 2001.002 of the Texas Estates Code, Texas law generally defines a digital asset as an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. Understanding this distinction is an important step in creating an estate plan that accounts for both traditional property and the digital information that may accompany it.
What counts as a digital asset?
Texas law generally defines a digital asset as an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. The term does not necessarily include an underlying asset or liability merely because it can be accessed electronically.
This distinction matters: the electronic record itself may be treated separately from the underlying property, account, or obligation associated with it.
Chapter 2001 and fiduciary access
Texas Estates Code Chapter 2001 governs access to certain digital assets by authorized fiduciaries. Personal representatives, trustees, agents acting under powers of attorney, and other fiduciaries may have authority to access, manage, or request disclosure of qualifying digital assets when handling an individual's affairs or estate — when the planning and documentation support it.
For some online accounts, a user may set a direction through an online tool provided by the custodian. Texas law governs how such directions interact with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate planning records.
§ Financial Assets
- Cryptocurrency & digital tokens
- Online businesses
- Monetized content
§ Accounts & Access
- Email accounts
- Social media accounts
- Cloud storage
§ Creative & Intellectual Property
- Digital photographs & videos
- Digital intellectual property
- Software
§ Web Presence & Records
- Websites & domain names
- Electronic records
Some of these carry clear monetary value; others carry personal or business importance that a spreadsheet won't capture. Even where the underlying funds or investments are traditional assets, the online accounts and access rights around them can raise digital-asset questions of their own.
§ Planning Ahead
What happens to digital assets when you die?
The answer depends on the type of asset, how it's owned, the custodian's contractual terms, access controls, and what your estate planning documents actually say.
Simply giving someone a password may not be enough. It doesn't, by itself, address legal authority, security, ownership, or succession.
A digital estate plan should address who has authority, the scope of what they're permitted to access, and what becomes of each piece of digital property.
§ Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency estate planning
Cryptocurrency presents planning challenges most traditional assets don't.
Can depend on private keys, seed phrases, hardware wallets, and exchange credentials — if that information disappears, the asset itself can become unreachable.
Placing sensitive credentials directly into a publicly accessible estate planning document creates its own risk.
Cryptocurrency planning has to hold accessibility and security in balance. Ownership and transfer are separate questions from the practical ability to access a wallet, exchange account, or private key — and a plan needs to answer both.
§ For Business Owners
When digital property supports a business
Digital estate planning becomes even more consequential when digital property is how a business runs, sells, or gets found. That can include:
§ Web & Infrastructure
- Website administration
- Domains
- Cloud infrastructure
- Software
§ Financial & Revenue
- Online financial accounts
- Online revenue streams
- Subscription services
§ Operations & Relationships
- Business email
- Digital accounts
- Customer or vendor systems
- Intellectual property
These issues often overlap with business succession planning and intellectual property — worth reviewing together rather than separately. If the business is jointly owned, it's also worth understanding how intellectual property rights are handled in a Texas business partnership, since ownership and control questions can arise well before an estate plan is ever needed.
§ Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do passwords and access credentials relate to digital estate planning?+
Sensitive credentials generally require careful handling. We help clients coordinate access for the right people without unnecessarily exposing confidential information in a public-facing document.
Can cryptocurrency be inherited?+
Cryptocurrency can constitute property that passes at death, but ownership, custody arrangements, access mechanisms, and applicable contractual terms all affect how the asset is actually administered or transferred.
How does Texas law address digital assets in powers of attorney?+
Texas law recognizes authority concerning digital-asset transactions, and Chapter 2001 governs fiduciary access and disclosure. This authority should be considered when preparing or reviewing a power of attorney — not simply assumed.
What is a digital asset inventory?+
A digital asset inventory is a record identifying digital property, online accounts, and other electronic records relevant to your plan. Building one helps you get organized and gives your fiduciary real guidance — sensitive credentials should still be handled securely, not written directly into the inventory itself.
Contact us for digital assets and modern estate planning.
Modern estates increasingly include assets that didn't exist a generation ago. We help clients in Kyle, Austin, and Central Texas build estate plans that address both traditional property and today's digital assets.
Free 15-Minute Consultation512-596-0534
