The Digital Afterlife: Why Your Online Assets Need Protection, Too
What happens to your online life when you're no longer here? Your cloud storage, financial accounts, photos, email, crypto, playlists—even your dating profiles? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone.
86% of Americans believe most people are unaware of the need for a digital afterlife plan. Another 86% say platforms should offer clearer guidance for managing digital accounts after death, and 57% admit they feel overwhelmed just thinking about it.
And yet, digital assets now represent a growing share of what we leave behind. You’re not just passing on assets like your home and vehicle, or family heirlooms, you’re also passing on your cherished memories. And, in today’s digital world, many of them exist in the cloud. That’s why, more than ever, it’s important to consider your digital assets in your estate plan.
Digital Assets Are the New Norm—But Estate Plans Haven’t Caught Up
Americans estimate the value of their digital assets at over $190,000 on average. But most estate plans don’t include a single password.
We don’t just live in our homes anymore—we live online. And our digital lives are layered with value. The average person now has over 100 online accounts, from banking apps and cloud storage to social platforms and digital subscriptions.
Then there are the emotional assets: The typical smartphone holds around 3,000 photos, many of them capturing moments that exist only in digital form.
Only 33% of people share their phone passcode with their partner. If you’re not sharing it with your partner, then who would you trust with it? And that’s just one password. Multiply that across email, cloud storage, financial logins, and more—and you start to see how even the people closest to you may be locked out of your most important digital accounts, messages, and memories.
Digital estate planning isn’t optional anymore. It’s essential.
The Problem: Most Estate Planning Tools Are Still Analog
A traditional will tells your loved ones who should receive what—your home, your savings, your heirlooms. But it doesn’t tell them how to get into your laptop. Or what to do with your social media accounts. Or where to find that file you always meant to print.
That’s where most estate plans fall short.
When there’s no plan in place, grieving families are often left with a frustrating reality: accounts they can't access, devices they can't unlock, and no instructions in sight. Without passwords or documentation, it can quickly become a timely hassle to locate and manage digital accounts. In some cases, the data is never recovered at all.
Your digital life can become a locked vault—one that nobody knows how to open.
Your Digital Vault
If your will is the roadmap to your legacy, your Digital Vault is the keyring that opens every door along the way.
GoodTrust’s Digital Vault gives you a secure, structured space to organize the digital side of your life:
Store key account info and login credentials for everything from cloud storage and email to crypto wallets and professional tools.
Upload essential documents like insurance forms, scanned IDs, or legal paperwork.
Add personal items such as photos, videos, letters, or playlists that you want passed on.
Assign trusted contacts to access specific assets—either now or after you’re gone.
Set permissions by person and timing, so each loved one sees what you want them to, when you want them to.
Everything is encrypted, easy to update, and built to be as intuitive as it is secure.
Rather than leaving your digital life scattered across devices and accounts, the Vault brings everything together in one place, so your loved ones don’t have to guess, dig, or struggle when the time comes.
Don’t Leave Your Digital Life Behind
Your estate is more than what you own—it’s what your loved ones will receive, rely on, and remember you by. That includes not only your financial assets, but also your photos, your stories, your digital files, your social media accounts and whatever you include in your digital life.
If those aren’t protected, a huge part of your legacy risks being lost.
Our Digital Vault ensures your online world is just as accessible and secure as your physical one. So when the time comes, your loved ones won’t be locked out of the moments, memories, and assets that matter most to you.
Start planning for your digital legacy with GoodTrust today!