Wills in the 21st century: the challenges of managing digital identity and assets after death

Instagram reels, a small investment in cryptocurrency, photographs stored in the cloud, all the email accumulated over years. The digital transformation has changed the way people interact with the world and produce content, creating a digital identity that continues beyond the life of the individual concerned. But what happens after a person dies? How are their personal data which remain on the internet and their digital assets administered legally? And to what extent is the legislative framework able to protect privacy while simultaneously enabling management of that electronic legacy?

Those are some of the key issues addressed in the latest article by Tatiana Cucurull Poblet, a researcher in the TAXBUSINESS (Taxation, Labour Relations and Business) research group and member of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Her paper, Generaciones Digitales: El legado sucesorio de las redes sociales [Digital generations: The probate legacy of social media], has been published in Revista Crítica de Derecho Inmobiliario. "The inheritance and management of digital assets after their owner's death are complex issues. They require an urgent and continuous adaptation of the legal framework," the researcher said.

Identity, assets and digital inheritance

The internet has ceased to be just another tool in our lives, and has become a space where we spend an increasing amount of time and do an increasing number of things. Today, we interact, have fun, work, learn, enjoy culture, shop, and manage our finances in the digital realm. All of this makes up what is known as our digital or online identity, which in recent years has become an extension of people's physical identity. This concept encompasses not only a person's basic data, but also the imprint they leave on the internet as a result of continuous interaction and content creation.

The rise of social media has been a crucial factor in this context. According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), 86% of internet users between 12 and 74 years old use social media in Spain. WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube are the most widely used, but TikTok, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter) and Twitch are also very popular. These platforms are not only used for social ends, but also for professional reasons, and they store a large quantity of information about their users, which poses significant challenges in terms of data protection and digital asset management after the owner's death.

Furthermore, as the article by the UOC researcher concludes, managing a digital inheritance is considerably more complex than managing traditional inheritances, since the estate may include photographs, videos, and texts shared on social media, as well as digital assets with financial value (such as cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs).

"In the current legislative framework, a deceased person's digital identity becomes a digital inheritance. In Spain, what happens to it is governed by Organic Law 3/2018 on the protection of personal data and guarantee of digital rights. Furthermore, in the case of Catalonia, it is also governed by Law 10/2017 on digital wills," said Cucurull. "Both laws empower specific people, who are usually relatives, to contact digital service providers and undertake the appropriate procedures."

The right to privacy versus the right to inherit

The digital revolution that the world has experienced in recent decades is progressing much more quickly than the regulatory frameworks that seek to provide security and regulate the new, emerging challenges relating to the internet. Cucurull, who is affiliated to UOC-DIGIT, identified areas for improvement during her research, and pointed out that the legislation governing digital inheritance makes no distinction between assets with a market value and personal assets. Furthermore, it provides no guarantee that heirs can administer this inheritance without interfering with the privacy of the deceased, and does not regulate the role of digital platforms in all of this.

"Clarifying and unifying the legal standing of digital assets is essential. The law must make a clear distinction between assets with a market value, such as cryptocurrencies or web domains, which must be explicitly included in the Civil Code by means of standardized mechanisms for their valuation and transfer, and personal assets such as email and social media accounts, for which the express will of the deceased and the right to posthumous privacy must take priority," she said.

"Furthermore, to ensure that people's wishes are carried out without violating privacy during their lives, the legislation must provide secure solutions for password storage, and systems that only allow the executor access to the digital legacy after death, thereby preventing security risks or intrusion into the owner's life."

Cucurull also believes it is necessary to establish a reasonable maximum timeframe for forcing service providers to deal with the requests made by heirs or executors. Considering that most providers are located in other countries, creating legislation that is harmonized at the European level is therefore essential. "In short, the legislation needs to evolve and focus on harmonizing the protection of posthumous privacy and probate law concerning digital assets."

Generaciones Digitales: El legado sucesorio de las redes sociales (2025). Revista Crítica de Derecho Inmobiliario, 809, 1287-1320. https://doi.org/10.36151/rcdi.2025.809.02

This UOC research aligns with the university's Digital transition and sustainability mission, and contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

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