Digital inheritance: what happens to accounts, crypto, air miles and profiles after death

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Twenty years ago, a family’s wealth fitted in a folder: the property deed, a bank statement, the car document. Today, much of what a person accumulates exists only on servers — a crypto wallet, balances at digital banks, air miles, a monetised channel, a valuable domain, an entire library of photos.

When that person dies, the family faces a new problem: where is all of it and how do we access it? This article organises the subject using the test that actually works — the nature of the asset — and shows how to avoid the permanent loss of wealth that exists but nobody can find.

There is no specific statute — and why that is not the main problem

Brazil has no dedicated digital inheritance statute. Bills are under discussion, but today the general succession rules of the Civil Code apply, combined with the protection of privacy (art. 21), the Internet Civil Framework and the LGPD.

In practice, the absence of a specific law causes less conflict than one might expect. The test is reasonably stable: assets with economic value transfer; strictly personal content receives different treatment. The real bottleneck is operational — access, credentials and proving the asset exists.

What enters probate (digital wealth)

• Crypto and digital assets in wallets or exchanges — they have economic value and must be declared and distributed.
• Balances in digital accounts and wallets (digital banks, payment providers, marketplaces).
• Internet domains, especially those underpinning a business.
• Monetised channels, profiles and pages, where they generate revenue and constitute economic activity.
• Copyright in works, courses, software, photos and texts, and the revenue arising from them.
• Miles and points, according to each programme’s rules — many allow transfer to the estate or heirs, some do not.
• In-game and platform assets, where they have market value and the platform allows transfer.

What is strictly personal (and follows a different logic)

Private messages, e-mails, intimate photos and conversations engage privacy — of the deceased and of those who communicated with them. They do not transfer like ordinary property. Here the platform’s terms of use govern and, in disputes, the courts.

Many platforms already offer their own mechanisms: a legacy contact or profile memorialisation, an inactive account manager with instructions set by the account holder, or deletion upon proof of death. The correct reading is this: when the holder configures this during their lifetime, the family does not have to fight about it later.

Crypto: where carelessness erases the asset

Crypto is the harshest example. If the assets sit with an exchange, there is a path: prove the death, enrol the estate and transfer to the heirs per the distribution. Laborious, but feasible.

If they sit in self-custody, reality is unforgiving: without the private key or seed phrase there is no recovery. There is no support desk to call, no judge who can reverse cryptography. The asset continues to exist on the network, visible, and permanently inaccessible.

In plain terms: with crypto, planning is not sophistication — it is the difference between the asset existing for your family or not.

How to organise this (without handing your passwords to anyone)

• Digital asset inventory: a list of what exists and where it is — without passwords — updated periodically.
• A password vault with emergency access configured, or sealed instructions held by someone you trust.
• A will to allocate digital assets of economic value and, where desired, give directions on personal content.
• Platform settings: legacy contact, inactive account manager, beneficiaries.
• Crypto: a specific, secure plan for the seed phrase (split custody, physical safe, professional guidance).
• Digital businesses: define who takes over the domain, accounts and operations, so revenue does not stop.

One important caution: never write passwords in the will. A will becomes public in the proceedings; credentials should sit in a separate, secure instrument, merely referenced.

A practical example: two outcomes, same situation

A businessman held a significant part of his wealth in crypto and ran a subscription-based digital business. He died leaving no instructions. The family knew the assets existed — he had mentioned them — but had no access to the wallet or the business dashboards. Funds held at an exchange were recovered through probate; those in self-custody were not.

In the alternative scenario, the same man would have kept a list of assets, the seed phrase in secure custody with access instructions, and a will allocating the digital business. The family would have taken over operations within weeks, with no loss of revenue and no loss of wealth. Same estate, opposite results — the difference was one afternoon of organisation.

Digital inheritance checklist

• List where your digital assets are (without passwords in the same list).
• Configure a legacy contact and inactive account manager on the main platforms.
• Define a secure plan for crypto keys.
• Check the rules of miles and points programmes.
• Treat digital businesses as a company: succession of domain, accounts and operations.
• Review the plan annually — digital changes faster than the rest of your wealth.

Frequently asked questions

Does crypto enter probate?

Yes. Crypto assets have economic value and form part of the deceased’s estate, and must be declared and distributed in probate. The challenge is operational: if held at an exchange, the estate can be enrolled, the death proven and the assets transferred to the heirs. If held in self-custody and nobody has the private key or seed phrase, no recovery is possible — not even by court order. That is why planning is essential.

Can my heirs access my e-mail and social media?

Not automatically. Private messages and content engage the privacy of the deceased and of third parties, and each platform has its own rules — memorialisation, legacy contact, inactive account manager or deletion upon proof of death. What has economic value, such as a monetised profile, follows property logic. Configuring these options during your lifetime is the surest way to have your wishes prevail.

Can air miles be inherited?

It depends on each programme’s rules. Many allow transfer to the estate or heirs upon presentation of the death certificate and probate documents; others provide for cancellation of points on death. Since the programme rules are the contract governing the relationship, the first step is to consult them. Where the balance is significant, it is worth including the matter in estate planning.

Is there a digital inheritance law in Brazil?

There is no specific statute. The general succession rules of the Civil Code apply, combined with the protection of privacy (art. 21), the Internet Civil Framework and the LGPD. Bills are under discussion. In practice, the test guiding cases is the nature of the asset: what has economic content passes to the heirs; what is strictly personal receives its own treatment, under the terms of use and, if necessary, a court decision.

How do I organise my digital assets for my family?

Keep an updated list of what exists and where it is, without passwords in the same document. Use a password vault with emergency access, or sealed instructions with someone you trust. Configure a legacy contact and inactive account manager on the platforms. For crypto, set up a secure custody plan for the seed phrase. And allocate digital assets of economic value in your will — never writing passwords in it, since the will becomes public in the proceedings.

Digital inheritance is, above all, a problem of access. The law already answers most questions about what transfers; what the law cannot do is remind your family where the keys are. At Falchet e Marques Sociedade de Advogados, a São Paulo firm on Avenida Paulista, we combine Succession and Digital Law to map digital assets and include them securely in your planning.

Talk to our team on WhatsApp: +55 11 95901-1854 — hold crypto, run a digital business, or want this organised for your family? Tell us the scenario so we can map the best route.