Digital inheritance: What happens to your digital assets after you die?

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Ever wondered what happens to your digital footprint after you die? Your photos, messages, iCloud data, or even cryptocurrency. Who owns it and who gets access to it?

[00:00:12]A recent court ruling from Gujarat has now brought that question into focus.

[00:00:16]Shash of Dinesh [music] Bhai Shah from Gandhinagar passed away in 2025 without leaving a will. His daughter approached the court to access his digital assets, including his iPhone and iCloud account.

[00:00:27]In May 2026, the court appointed her as estate administrator and directed Apple to help her recover the data. Also, the court ruled that digital data forms part of a deceased person's estate and can be passed on under succession law. And that privacy [music] rights end after death and cannot prevent lawful heirs from accessing such assets. Previously in October 2025, [music] the Madras High Court had recognized cryptocurrency as property, which was an important step towards legal clarity for digital property.

[00:00:59]As digital adoption accelerates globally, concerns over our digital footprint are rising. Researchers at the University of Oxford estimate that Facebook alone could have nearly 4.9 billion deceased user profiles by the end of this century, turning it into the world's largest virtual graveyard.

[00:01:16]However, India still doesn't have a dedicated statutory [music] framework for digital inheritance. Neither the Indian Succession Act of 1925 nor the IT Act of 2000 explicitly recognize digital assets or their inheritance rights. The closest provision is Section 14 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023. It allows nomination of a person to exercise certain data rights after death, including access and deletion.

[00:01:42]Although this deals with data protection rights rather than the transfer of ownership of digital assets.

[00:01:49]But some countries [music] have already moved ahead to define rules for digital inheritance.

[00:01:54]In 2018, Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled that digital accounts should be treated like physical property and inherited accordingly. Several states in the United [music] States have provisions that allow executors, trustees, and agents with legal authority to access, manage, or delete a deceased person's digital accounts and assets. Trans allows users to leave legally binding instructions on whether their data should be deleted, transferred, or preserved after death.

[00:02:23]Global tech giants have already developed tools to handle what happens to a user's data after death or prolonged inactivity. Apple offers a legacy contact feature, which allows users to nominate someone to access selected iCloud [music] data with an access key and death certificate. Google provides an inactive account manager, which lets users decide [music] what happens to their account if they've been inactive for an extended period of time.

[00:02:48]Meta allows Facebook and Instagram accounts to be memorialized. Users can assign a legacy contact [music] to manage limited profile functions, but families can also request account deletion by submitting proof of death.

[00:03:00]So, while several countries already have legal provisions in place, India still lacks a dedicated framework for digital inheritance.

[00:03:08]And this gap is becoming more critical