Digital estate records and questions checklist

Gather an account map

Start with one entry for each account or asset. The fields below are an organizational recommendation rather than a required legal form.

• Account or asset name, provider, account identifier, and location of relevant records.
• Ownership or license documents, including any connection to a business or trust.
• Custody arrangement and location of recovery instructions.
• Existing disclosure directions and the location of any related estate documents.
• Relevant transaction, valuation, business, and tax records.
• Unresolved questions and the person you plan to ask.

For example, an entry might identify a wallet, its custody arrangement, and where recovery instructions are secured. Keep transaction secrets out of copies you circulate for discussion.

Compare disclosure directions with estate documents

Gather any provider disclosure settings, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and relevant account agreements for your attorney to review together.

In Minnesota, for example, a user may direct disclosure or nondisclosure through an online tool. A tool direction overrides a contrary will, trust, power of attorney, or other record only if the user can modify or delete it at all times.

If no tool direction was given under that provision, or no tool was provided, the user may allow or prohibit fiduciary disclosure in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record, including communication contents.

Either type of direction overrides a contrary terms of service provision only when that provision does not require affirmative, distinct assent separate from assent to the terms of service. Other states differ.

• Record what each existing direction says, including any choice against disclosure.
• Ask your attorney to compare conflicting directions and identify which documents need attention.
• Ask which records and authority documents the proposed fiduciary should gather before approaching a provider.

Separate custody, recovery, and authority questions

Identify who manages the keys and which recovery arrangements exist before discussing who should handle the asset.

SEC staff educational guidance explains that a private key authorizes cryptocurrency transactions. With self custody, the holder manages private keys. With a third party custodian, that custodian manages and controls key access.

A seed phrase can restore a wallet after loss or damage. Lost or stolen keys or seed phrases may prevent access, depending on available recovery arrangements. This guidance has no legal force.

The same guidance advises against sharing private keys or seed phrases. As a practical security precaution, keep these secrets separate from broadly accessible inventory copies.

• Record the custody type and where recovery instructions are secured, without copying the secret into this checklist.
• Ask how the intended helper would locate the instructions and obtain appropriate authority.
• Identify relevant technical experience and any need for professional assistance.

In Minnesota, for example, a personal representative dealing with estate assets must use the care of a prudent person handling another person's property.

The representative must use special skills if they possess them or were named based on a representation of special skills or expertise. That standard does not itself grant provider access. Other states differ.

Prepare valuation records for estate administration

Gather statements, transaction histories, asset descriptions, and any existing valuation work for the person administering the estate.

In Minnesota, for example, a personal representative must prepare and file or mail an inventory of property owned at death by the later of six months after appointment or nine months after death.

This excludes a special administrator and a successor whose predecessor already completed the duty. The inventory must give reasonable detail, fair market value at death, and the type and amount of any encumbrance.

Copies must be mailed or delivered to the surviving spouse, all residuary distributees, and interested persons or creditors requesting one. The representative need not personally receive a copy as spouse or residuary distributee. Other states differ.

In Minnesota, for example, a personal representative may employ a qualified, disinterested appraiser when an asset's fair market value at death is subject to reasonable doubt.

The inventory must identify each appraiser's name and address with the items appraised. Different appraisers may value different kinds of assets. Other states differ.

In Minnesota, for example, learning of omitted property or an erroneous or misleading inventory value or description requires the personal representative to prepare a supplementary inventory or appraisement.

It must show the new item's market value at death or the revised value or description, plus any appraisers or other data relied upon.

The representative must furnish copies or information to persons interested in the new information and file the supplement with the court if the original inventory was filed. Other states differ.

• Flag missing statements, uncertain values, and accounts discovered after the initial inventory.
• Keep a note of the evidence behind each valuation and any questions for the representative or appraiser.

Two related terms

In Minnesota, for example, a digital asset is an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. It excludes an underlying asset or liability unless that asset or liability is itself an electronic record.

In Minnesota, for example, a catalog of electronic communications identifies correspondents, communication dates and times, and electronic addresses.

These definitions apply to Minnesota's digital asset access statute. Other states differ.

Four EstatePlanner.com resources to open next

• Digital assets and property

  Open this overview when your checklist raises questions about digital inventories, access instructions, ownership, or cryptocurrency custody. Use it to choose the topic for your next planning conversation.

• Asset and authority map template

  Use this alongside your account list to organize questions about each asset and the person expected to handle it. Bring both to your attorney when reviewing authority documents.

• Incapacity planning documents and questions checklist

  Open this when your concern is help during your lifetime. Prepare the broader document discussion alongside your questions about digital accounts.

• Estate administration records and questions checklist

  Use this when you are gathering records after a death. Pair it with your digital list to prepare questions about the estate's wider administration.

An Investor Advantage perspective on disruption

A speaker recalled how quickly familiar ways of working became unavailable. Use that experience as a prompt to record the systems and recovery arrangements your work depends on.

"Suddenly, some of the biggest tools I had relied upon to build relationships and seek out investors was inaccessible. No more conferences, no more lunches and dinners, no more planned roadshows. All at once, everything changed."

Common questions