How ownership and inheritance work for digital property
Key takeaway
Copyright can pass by will or intestacy, while account access depends on the rights held by the user. In Minnesota, for example, fiduciary access gives no new or expanded rights beyond the user's rights, and other states differ.
A device, a software license and copyright in a stored work raise different ownership questions. The sections below distinguish physical objects from copyright, explain Apple's specific license and access policies, and describe the conditions on inherited royalty income.
Research notice: State examples apply to the named jurisdiction, and other states differ. Apple's terms and policies are provider specific. Check the linked official authorities and current provider terms before acting on an ownership, transfer or access decision.
Account access and ownership
In Virginia, the fiduciary access statute preserves the user's and custodian's contractual rights to access and use digital assets. A fiduciary or designated recipient receives no new or expanded rights beyond the user's rights. User direction and federal law can modify or eliminate access, and terms of service can do so if the user has not provided direction under §64.2-118. Other states differ.
The digital asset access instructions guide covers account settings, estate documents and disclosure requests. The Minnesota access limits appear in the related reading below, and the account termination requirements appear under Common questions.
Electronic records and underlying property
In Delaware, Title 12, Chapter 50 defines digital assets to include documents, images, software licenses, usernames, passwords and other listed materials created, generated, sent, communicated, shared, received or stored electronically on a digital device. The definition excludes an underlying asset or liability governed by other provisions of Title 12. A definition does not establish transferability, and other states differ.
In Ohio, for purposes of Chapter 2137, a digital asset is an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. An underlying asset or liability is excluded unless it is itself an electronic record. Other states differ.
The digital asset glossary entry explains the terminology, and the Delaware guide covers that state's digital asset topic.
Purchased content and service terms
Under Apple's App Store terms, apps are licensed rather than sold. Unless a Custom EULA governs instead, the Standard EULA grants a nontransferable license to use the app on Apple branded products the licensee owns or controls, subject to the Usage Rules. Transfer, redistribution or sublicensing is permitted only as the agreement expressly allows. Before selling the Apple device to a third party, the licensee must remove the app.
Under Apple's Legacy Contact policy, a contact can request access after death to certain account data, potentially including photos, messages, notes, files and device backups. The contact must meet the applicable age requirement, described as over 13 with regional variation, and provide the generated access key and required death documentation. Documentation ordinarily includes a death certificate but varies by country or region, with Japan requiring a family certificate indicating death instead. Purchased movies, music, books and subscriptions remain inaccessible, as does iCloud Keychain data, including payment information, passwords and passkeys.
A Legacy Contact arrangement concerns access to data rather than an inheritance designation.
Devices, crypto keys and copyright in stored works
Under federal copyright law, ownership of a physical object embodying a work is distinct from ownership of copyright or its exclusive rights. Transferring the object, including the copy or recording in which the work was first fixed, does not itself convey rights in the copyrighted work. Conversely, transferring copyright or an exclusive right does not convey property rights in the physical object absent an agreement.
The question about inheriting a computer and its digital contents applies this distinction to a device containing stored works.
SEC staff educational guidance describes a private key as a passcode authorizing transactions in crypto assets. With self custody, the holder manages the private keys, while a third party custodian manages and controls key access in a custodial arrangement. A seed phrase can restore a wallet if the wallet or private key is lost or its hardware or software is damaged or corrupted, but loss or theft of keys or recovery words may prevent access. The guidance has no legal force or effect.
The digital estate inventory guide covers organizing custody and recovery information. Technical access and legal authority are separate planning questions.
Creative property and licensing interests
For a work protected by federal copyright law, copyright initially belongs to its author or authors, and joint authors are coowners. For a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author and owns the copyright. The work for hire ownership rule yields to an express agreement otherwise in a written instrument signed by the parties.
Copyright ownership may pass in whole or in part by will or applicable intestacy law. Exclusive rights and subdivisions of those rights may be transferred and owned separately. An owner of a particular exclusive right receives protection and remedies only to the extent of that right.
A transfer of copyright ownership other than by operation of law requires a written instrument of conveyance, note or memorandum. The writing must be signed by the owner of the conveyed rights or that owner's duly authorized agent.
Subject to the limitations in sections 107 through 122 of the Copyright Act, the owner of the relevant exclusive right may reproduce the work, prepare derivative works and authorize those activities. The relevant distribution right permits distributing copies to the public by sale or other ownership transfer, or by rental, lease or lending, and authorizing those activities. For separately owned rights, protection and remedies extend only to the right owned.
A royalty receivable that qualifies as income in respect of a decedent is included in the qualifying recipient's gross income when received, if it was not properly includible in the decedent's death year or a prior period. A qualifying recipient is the estate acquiring the right from the decedent, or a person acquiring the right because of death if the estate did not acquire it. A qualifying recipient may also be a beneficiary who acquired the right from the decedent by bequest, devise or inheritance and receives the payment after the estate distributes that right. The income retains the character it would have had in the decedent's hands, and the right receives no inherited property basis adjustment under §1014.
Not every royalty contract is classified as income in respect of a decedent. The income right requires review separately from the underlying copyright. Earlier copyright terms, copyright duration, qualification as work made for hire, individual statutory limitations and trademark inheritance procedures also require separate review. The learning library links to tax guides covering basis elections, gain calculations and estate tax computations.
Common questions
What account functions can fiduciary access involve?
In Minnesota, for example, a fiduciary may request termination of a user's account, and other states differ. The request must be written in physical or electronic form and include a certified death certificate if the user is deceased, together with a certified copy of the representative's letter of appointment or a small estate affidavit, court order, power of attorney or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account. If the custodian requests it, the fiduciary must also supply a custodian assigned account identifier, evidence linking the account to the user, or a court finding identifying the user's specific account through that identifier. A custodian may disclose account information required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user.
The digital asset access instructions guide covers the broader review of account access and disclosure requests.
Where can digital assets pass without specific disposition terms?
In Minnesota, for example, the decedent's property passes under the will or, absent testamentary disposition, to heirs, subject to the restrictions below, and other states differ. The rule concerns the decedent's real and personal property and includes statutory substitutes for devisees or heirs when lapse, disclaimer, renunciation or other circumstances affect succession. Devolution remains subject to the homestead provisions in §§525.14 and 524.2-402, the allowances in §§524.2-403 and 524.2-404, creditor rights, the surviving spouse's elective share and administration.
The intestate estate excludes property allowed to the spouse or descendants under §§524.2-402, 524.2-403 and 524.2-404 and property disposed of by will. A will may expressly exclude or limit an individual's or class's right to inherit through intestacy. If the affected individual or class member survives the decedent, the affected share passes as if that individual or each member of that class had disclaimed an intestate share.
Designation to administer digital assets gives no new or expanded rights beyond the user's rights under Minnesota Chapter 521A. The succession example therefore does not establish that every account, license or digital investment is transferable.
Are purchased software licenses transferable?
Not necessarily. Under Apple's Standard EULA, the license is nontransferable, and transfer, redistribution or sublicensing is allowed only as the agreement expressly permits. A Custom EULA may govern instead. Apps are licensed rather than sold, and the Standard EULA permits use on Apple branded products the licensee owns or controls, subject to the Usage Rules. Before selling the Apple device to a third party, the licensee must remove the app. The purchased content section above links to Apple's terms for this specific example.