How to recover the digital assets of a dead loved one
Digital deaths: An Insight package
Recovering the digital trail of a dead loved one is complicated - with or without a will.
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SINGAPORE - The death of a loved one can leave behind a trail of digital assets and online accounts that are tough for families to recover.
Lawyers said clients have increasingly asked about digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and stocks in their wills. Some said these requests have nearly doubled in the past two years, and that interest in the handling of digital assets is likely to rise as more assets become intertwined with technology.
Without official documentation, claiming these accounts could become more complicated. The Straits Times looks at how families can recover the digital assets of their loved ones.
Bank accounts and cryptocurrencies
When a will is prepared, an individual entrusted to handle the dead person’s estate – the executor – can proceed to apply for a grant of probate from the courts. The grant is required by financial institutions to close an account and withdraw money. A will can be prepared at most law firms.
Banks such as OCBC and DBS will freeze accounts that are inactive for a period of time to protect the funds until they are claimed.
The best way to avoid delays is for people to list out the assets to be handed over to their loved ones in a note attached to their wills or kept at home, said Mr Subra M. Suppiah, director of Subra TT Law.
People can also list these assets in a basic will that can be made through online will generators, offered by the likes of OCBC and financial advisory firm MoneyOwl.
OCBC said the service is for basic wills only, and those with more complicated assets should craft the document with a lawyer’s help. Applicants can state the details of their executors, beneficiaries, asset allocation and other instructions.
The document must be completed in one sitting, signed by two witnesses, then stored in a safe place and registered with the Wills Registry.
Lawyers noted that applications to withdraw funds from cryptocurrencies are less clear-cut. Crypto trading platforms such as Gemini and Coinbase said the process to manage a dead user’s account remains similar to that of a bank and can be managed with court documents provided by an executor.
Personal tech devices
Even if the user had prepared a will, it is unlikely that personal tech devices including smartphones, laptops and hard disks are specified, as these rarely hold much monetary value. These assets are typically handed to family members. Most wills indicate that assets not specifically mentioned – called “residual assets” – can be distributed to the user’s spouse or immediate family.
If there is no will, the decision falls on the family to decide how the devices will be managed. Families that do not know the devices’ passwords must contact the manufacturers, many of which hold varying stances on whether to unlock the accounts.
Most tech firms also automatically deactivate accounts left dormant after a certain period of time.
Five electronic service centres told ST that they are usually unable to unlock phones without resetting them to factory settings.
Using data forensics tools, CBL Data Recovery, which offers to inspect customers’ devices for free, said that older gadgets are generally easier to unlock, as the operating system is likely to be outdated.
In some instances, data from Windows laptops have been recovered if the user did not install any additional encryption software, said CBL, which runs an office in Tai Seng. It added that it is unable to enter Apple devices without the user’s Apple ID due to its proprietary systems.
E-mails and subscriptions
Google has its own version of Apple’s legacy contact, which allows users to appoint an inactive account manager on its account page.
Users can set a waiting period of at least three months before the account is deemed inactive, and specify who to notify to access the data. The Google account provides access to Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Google Workspace, some devices and other productivity apps.
In the case of Google Drive, the trusted contact will get access to all documents in the Drive through a download link, but will not be able to navigate the dead user’s Google account through a password login.
If an inactive account manager is not appointed, families can request to close or obtain funds and data from the user’s account on a case-by-case basis.
GOOGLE, ON ITS WEBSITEAny decision to satisfy a request about a deceased user will be made only after a careful review.Any decision to satisfy a request about a deceased user will be made only after a careful review.Any decision to satisfy a request about a deceased user will be made only after a careful review.
Microsoft does not offer a trusted contact system. It said on its support page that requests to access the contents of accounts will be made on a case-by-case basis, but added that it is generally unable to provide information to non-account holders due to privacy concerns.
Instead, it advised individuals acting on behalf of users to stop any subscriptions to Microsoft by closing the users’ bank accounts or credit cards. “If you don’t know the account credentials, it will be closed automatically after two years of inactivity,” according to its support webpage.
Social media accounts
Generally, social media companies do not allow family members to take over accounts due to privacy and ethical reasons.
Some, including LinkedIn, have the option to memorialise an account to indicate that the user has died. LinkedIn said that once an account is memorialised, access to the account is locked, and that it will not disclose any credentials to anyone, even family members, under any circumstances.
Memorialising an account on Facebook and Instagram limits any interaction with the account, and ensures previous posts by the user are not suggested to other people. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its help centre that it also locks the account to prevent anyone from entering it, while the dead user’s posts remain visible.
Active Facebook members can assign a legacy contact who can manage the account and post updates after their death. The legacy contact is not able to log into the user’s account to edit posts or read messages.
Facebook can help to add a legacy contact even after a user has died. The applicant must be an existing Facebook friend of the user and named in the will, or supported with court documents that appoint him as the custodian of the user’s social media accounts.
In the settings menu, active users can request that their account be deleted upon their death. Family members can also request the removal of a dead user’s account.
Twitter offers to remove the account of a dead or incapacitated user but does not provide the option to memorialise. Those acting on behalf of the user will need to send a copy of the death certificate or power of attorney.
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