Is it possible to include social media followers in my will?

—Name withheld on request

Digital assets is a broad term encompassing essentially those assets that are in a digital or online format and come with a right to use i.e. essentially social media accounts, cryptocurrencies, NFTs or non-fungible tokens, domain names, data saved on cloud servers etc.

With the phenomenal rise of social media, will writing now contemplates significant discussion around manner of disposition of digital assets. From a legal perspective, digital assets are similar to any other type of assets and may be passed on to the intended beneficiaries through the tools of succession planning.

Any digital assets that aren’t specifically mentioned in a will are considered part of the residuary estate and will pass to whichever beneficiary is entitled to inherit it. The discussion assumes even more significance in case of monetized social media accounts.

Prior to including the details of such social media accounts, one should refer to the underlying terms and conditions with such assets. For instance, social media accounts are technically not owned but licensed to the user and technically may not be passed through a will. Whereas digital assets that have been licensed may be able to be passed via a will such as web domain name.

It is advisable that the will contains clear instructions regarding your intent about what to do with the social media accounts. Some may prefer their social media accounts to be memorialized (Instagram offer this option) while some others may prefer to have their social media accounts deleted/ destroyed due to financial/ security risks of hacking. Additionally, this will ensure the testator’s (legal representative appointed in the will to carry out the instructions contained in the will) access to your digital assets is only to the extent necessary and the right to data privacy is observed. Further, it may be worthwhile to explore appointing a special executor, who is tech savvy and has business experience to deal with digital assets.

Also, since a will may eventually become a public document due to the requirement of probate, one should proceed on the line of caution while stating confidential login information. To address the sensitivity issue, the explicit login credentials may be captured in a separate document, the reference to which should be given in the will.

Further, due to the high turnover in creation, updates and deletion of online accounts, it is important to revisit the digital asset inventory on a regular basis.

Since the subject area of managing one’s digital footprint is its nascent stage and the regulatory environment ever evolving, it is imperative that due care is taken on the subject matter of appropriate inclusion and disposition of digital assets in will.

Rohit Jain is managing partner and Keshav Singhania is head—Private Client at Singhania & Co.

Updated: 20 Jun 2023, 10:59 PM IST