Securing Your Digital Legacy: Why Digital Assets Belong in Your Will

The New Wealth: Your Life Is Now Also Digital

In 2025, a large part of an Indian’s wealth is no longer locked in only flats, FDs, and gold; it lives in servers, apps, and platforms across the world. From UPI wallets and crypto holdings to YouTube channels, Instagram pages, and Shopify stores, a modern estate now includes digital assets that can have serious financial and emotional value. Yet, most Indian families still plan only for physical assets in their will, leaving digital wealth at risk of being lost, frozen, or taken over by platforms after death.

For a platform like iWills India, this is the gap to solve: helping families recognize, document, and pass on their digital life with the same clarity and legal structure as a flat or a bank account.

What Exactly Are Digital Assets?

Digital assets are any assets that exist in digital form, are uniquely identifiable, and carry either financial, access, or sentimental value. Broadly, for an Indian user, they fall into four buckets:

Financial and investment‑linked digital assets

Cryptocurrencies and tokens such as Bitcoin , Ethereum , stablecoins, and other virtual digital assets (VDAs).
NFTs and tokenized collectibles representing art, in‑game items, or membership rights.
Online trading and demat accounts, brokerage apps, and digital mutual fund platforms accessed only via email/phone and passwords.

Income‑generating digital businesses

Monetised YouTube channels (ad revenue, memberships, Super Chats).
Instagram, Facebook, and other social profiles earning via brand collaborations or paid promotions.
Blogs, podcasts, and newsletters earning from ads, sponsorships, or paid subscriptions.
Online stores on marketplaces (like Amazon, Flipkart) or independent websites with payment gateways, CRM tools, and customer databases.
Affiliate marketing websites and social accounts that earn recurring commissions from links, SaaS referrals, or digital products.

Access‑critical and identity‑based assets

Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, corporate IDs), which often control resets for banking, trading, cloud, and social accounts.
Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud) holding family photos, legal documents, and business data.
Domain names and hosting accounts (the “address” and infrastructure for websites and funnels).

Personal and sentimental digital assets

Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn) with posts, messages, and photos.
Digital photos, videos, creative works, or writing stored online.
Gaming accounts, loyalty wallets, points, and e‑wallet balances.

Many of these are technically “intangible property” and, depending on the platform terms, can either be inherited, memorialised, or permanently locked if there is no pre‑planning.

Law and Reality: Where Does India Stand Today?

Indian succession laws do not yet have a special, dedicated statute for digital inheritance. The Indian Succession Act talks about “property” in broad terms, which courts and commentators increasingly interpret to include digital property such as crypto, monetised channels, and domain names.

Two important trends are emerging:

Courts treating digital wealth as property:
The Madras High Court has clarified that cryptocurrency is “property” under Indian law and is also recognized as a Virtual Digital Asset under Section 2(47A) of the Income Tax Act. This means it can be inherited like any other movable property, even though practical access depends on private keys and exchange policies.
Platform rules often override intuition:
Global platforms like Google, Apple, Facebook, and YouTube operate under their own terms of service, which may require tools like Inactive Account Manager, Legacy Contacts, or local court orders for post‑death access. In some cases, accounts can be memorialised but not fully handed over, unless the user has pre‑authorised it or left detailed instructions.

Result: Legally, heirs can claim the underlying “value” or rights, but practically, a poorly planned digital estate can leave executors stuck between Indian court orders and foreign platform contracts.

Digital Economies: How Indians Earn Online Today

To write a meaningful will, the starting point is understanding how income is actually generated online:

Ad‑based creator income

YouTube Partner Program revenue from ads and memberships.
In‑stream ads or Reels bonuses from platforms that share ad revenue with creators.

Brand deals and influencer marketing

Sponsored posts, product integrations, and long‑term brand ambassador contracts handled via email and invoices.

Affiliate and referral marketing

Websites, blogs, or social handles that embed affiliate links to e‑commerce marketplaces, SaaS tools, or fintech products.
Income is usually tracked and credited to dashboards and then paid into bank accounts or wallets on a schedule.

Digital products and courses

One‑time sales and subscription models for e‑books, templates, coaching, and video courses hosted on platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, or custom sites.

E‑commerce and D2C brands

Online stores running on marketplaces or platforms like Shopify/WooCommerce, with recurring customer traffic and campaigns.

Web3 and token‑based earnings

Staking rewards, airdrops, on‑chain royalties from NFTs, and governance tokens received for participation.

The key feature of these income streams is continuity: the content, funnels, and platforms can keep generating money long after the creator or founder is gone—if someone knows how to access and manage them.

What Happens If You Do Nothing?

When there is no plan:

Heirs often do not even know what exists.
Many families discover too late that the deceased had trading apps, crypto holdings, or a monetised channel, but cannot log in.
Digital businesses silently die.
Monetised YouTube channels or blogs continue to earn for a while, but without someone renewing domains, paying hosting, or posting content, revenue falls and accounts can be terminated for inactivity.
Platforms may lock or memorialise accounts.
Facebook can memorialise a profile; Google may deactivate accounts after a period of inactivity and eventually delete data if Inactive Account Manager is not configured.
Legal rights become hard to enforce.
Even if heirs obtain a succession certificate or probate, foreign platforms may insist on their own documentation or may refuse to transfer an account that is “personal and non‑transferable” under their terms.

In short, the law is moving towards recognition, but without a will and a digital plan, execution remains messy and value is easily lost.

Turning Digital Wealth into a Planned Legacy

For iWills India readers, a practical digital‑inheritance strategy can be framed in four steps.

1) Map Your Entire Digital Estate

Create a private inventory (not in the will) that captures:

All financial digital assets: exchanges, wallets, brokerage apps, demat, mutual fund platforms, and any VDA holdings.iwills+1
Income‑generating accounts: YouTube, Instagram, X, Facebook pages, blogs, newsletters, podcast hosting, affiliate networks, online course platforms, and e‑commerce stores.
Access accounts: primary email IDs, cloud storage, domain registrars, hosting providers, payment gateways, and payment aggregators.

iWills.in content recommends maintaining a list of important digital accounts and crypto wallets, with a separate memorandum describing custody and recovery steps, rather than embedding passwords in the will.

2) Decide Who Should Get Ownership vs. Control

Not every asset needs to go to the same person.

Ownership beneficiaries: who ultimately gets the economic benefit—spouse, children, siblings, or a trust.
Digital executor or manager: a tech‑savvy person who can work with the main executor to access, manage, or wind up the digital business.

For example:

A spouse or child may inherit the value of a monetised channel, but a trusted business partner might temporarily manage content and brand deals under clear instructions.

3) Express Digital Wishes Clearly in the Will

Model clauses (adapted to your lawyer’s advice) often follow the spirit already used in iWills.in’s sample drafts, which include a separate digital assets section. A well‑crafted will can:

Recognise digital assets explicitly as part of the estate.
Direct that all digital accounts, crypto wallets, and online businesses be accessed and administered by the executor or a named digital executor.
Allocate specific assets: “all rights, income, and access relating to my YouTube channel/blog/online store to [X]” and “all my cryptocurrencies, tokens, and NFTs to [Y].”
Clarify what should be shut down (e.g., some social media accounts) and what should be continued (e.g., a profitable blog or brand).

Because platform terms and foreign laws can complicate execution, clearly written instructions strengthen the executor’s moral and legal standing when dealing with service providers.

4) Secure Access Without Compromising Security

Security and inheritance need to be balanced carefully. Best practices emerging across expert guidance include:

Use password managers and note only the “recovery method” and master access plan in a separate memorandum mentioned in the will.
Configure Inactive Account Manager (Google), Legacy Contact (Facebook, Apple), or similar tools, aligned with the beneficiaries named in your will.
Ensure multi‑factor authentication (2FA) is not locked to a phone number that will be deactivated soon after death; consider backup codes and shared devices where appropriate.

iWills India can position itself as the place where this entire picture is captured once—assets, nominees, and access plan—so families are not left chasing scattered clues

What About Tax and Compliance?

From an Indian tax perspective:

Inheritance of property (including digital assets like crypto) is not taxed at the point of succession.
However, when heirs later sell or encash those assets, they are taxed—crypto and other VDAs at a flat 30% plus applicable surcharge and cess, with 1% TDS on eligible transfers.
Digital business income (from ads, affiliates, e‑commerce, or courses) after the original owner’s death is taxable in the hands of the heir or entity receiving it.

A clear will and supporting records (invoices, platform statements, contracts) make it easier for heirs to comply with tax requirements and demonstrate the legitimacy of ongoing digital income.

How iWills India Can Help Digital Natives

Existing iWills.in resources already encourage users to list digital assets and refer to a separate custody memorandum for sensitive details. Building on this, a digital‑first will journey can:

Prompt users to add monetised accounts, websites, and crypto holdings as separate asset types.
Suggest appointing a digital executor and provide drafting language for digital business continuity or closure.
Generate a registration‑ready, attorney‑reviewed will that contains a dedicated digital assets section, aligned with Indian law and evolving global platform practices.

For Indian creators, founders, freelancers, and side‑hustlers, this is no longer a niche issue. A systematic digital‑inheritance plan ensures that the years spent building followers, code, content, and communities translate into a lasting legacy, not a lost password. Planning a will for digital assets is not about fearing death; it is about giving your online life the same dignity, structure, and continuity that iWills India already brings to your physical wealth.