Glossary

A document listing every online account you hold: the platform name, your username or email address, what the account contains, and your wishes for it. Kept with your will and updated annually. An essential tool for any executor.

The person appointed by the courts to manage your estate if you die without a will (intestate) or without naming an executor. Similar duties to an executor but appointed by a court rather than by you.

Apple's feature (available from iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS 12.1) that lets you choose people who can request access to the data in your Apple Account after you die, such as photos, messages, notes, and files. They will need the access key Apple generates and a death certificate. It does not include saved passwords, payment information, or purchased media.

A decentralised storage network where files, once stored, are permanently preserved and cannot be deleted by any administrator. Used by some digital preservation services as a genuinely immutable archive layer.

Irish legislation that established the legal framework for supporting people with decision-making difficulties. Came into effect on 26 April 2023 and introduced a new system of Enduring Powers of Attorney and advance healthcare directives, overseen by the Decision Support Service.

A person who receives something from your estate under your will or the rules of intestacy.

Files stored on remote servers operated by a third party (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, etc.) rather than on your own devices. Access typically requires your login credentials and may be difficult for others to access after your death.

A storage system where files are identified by a cryptographic hash of their content rather than a filename. Any modification to the file produces a different identifier, which makes tampering detectable. Used in digital preservation for immutability.

An automated trigger that activates when a user fails to check in within a defined period. Used in digital legacy planning to release access or send messages if the account holder becomes incapacitated or dies without formally triggering any instructions.

The Irish public body, set up under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, that registers and supervises Enduring Powers of Attorney and other decision-support arrangements.

Any asset that exists in digital form, including social media accounts, email, cloud-stored files and photos, domain names, cryptocurrency, online bank accounts, digital intellectual property, and purchased digital content. Irish law does not yet have a single definition.

A person you name, in your will or a separate document, with specific responsibility for managing your digital estate after your death. May be the same person as your general executor or someone with more technical knowledge. Does not yet have a defined legal status in Irish law.

The sum of your online presence and digital assets, from your social media profiles and emails to your photos, documents, cryptocurrency, and online accounts, and the question of what should happen to it after you die.

Not a separate legal document in Ireland, but a clause within your existing will that explicitly addresses digital assets, names a digital executor, and references a Digital Wishes document. Recommended by solicitors experienced in estate planning.

A document (often stored with your will) that records your specific instructions for each digital account: keep as memorial, delete, transfer content, donate to archive. Gives your executor clear guidance and helps prevent family disagreements.

A method of protecting data by converting it into a form that can only be read with a specific key. Your phone and computer may be encrypted, which means your executor cannot access the contents without your passcode or encryption key, even with physical possession of the device.

A legal document, under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, that lets you appoint someone to make decisions about your property and affairs (and some personal welfare matters) if you lose capacity in future. It must be registered with the Decision Support Service before it takes effect, and it ends on your death, when your executor takes over. Can be drafted to cover digital accounts; discuss this with your solicitor. The UK equivalent is called a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Everything you own at the time of your death, minus what you owe. Your executor's job is to identify, collect, and distribute your estate according to your will or the rules of intestacy.

The person named in your will who is responsible for administering your estate: paying your debts, closing accounts, and distributing assets according to your wishes. A digital executor has specific responsibility for digital assets.

The person you choose (in Facebook's Accounts Centre, under Memorialisation) to look after your profile once it has been memorialised after your death. They can write a pinned post, update your profile photo, manage tributes, respond to new friend requests, and request removal of the account, but cannot log in or read your messages.

EU data protection law that gives individuals rights over their personal data, including the right to access it, correct it, and request its deletion. These rights are personal and do not automatically transfer to your estate after death, which complicates things for family members trying to access or delete your data.

Google's feature that lets you decide what happens to your Google account data if it becomes inactive for a defined period (a proxy for death or incapacity). You can share data with trusted contacts or instruct Google to delete the account.

A legal document issued by the Irish Probate Office that confirms your will is valid and grants your executor the legal authority to administer your estate. Required by banks and other institutions before they will release assets.

See Google Inactive Account Manager.

Dying without a valid will. If you die intestate in Ireland, the Succession Act 1965 dictates how your estate is distributed among your nearest relatives. Digital assets are not well-addressed by intestacy rules.

A decentralised file storage protocol where files are addressed by their content hash. Content stored on IPFS is distributed across many nodes, which makes it more resilient to any single point of failure. Used in some digital preservation services.

The independent Irish body that reviews law and makes recommendations for reform. Has identified digital legacy and digital assets in estates as an area requiring legislative attention.

A general term for the person nominated to manage a digital account after the account holder's death. Facebook and Apple use this term specifically for their official features.

The process by which a social media account (most commonly Facebook or Instagram) is converted to a memorial status after the account holder's death. The account typically remains viewable but cannot be logged in to, and is marked "Remembering" or similar.

Your closest living relative. Some platforms ask for proof that the person making a request is a close relative, for example when asking Instagram to remove a deceased person's account. Not a well-defined legal status for digital accounts in Ireland.

Software that securely stores all your passwords in an encrypted vault, accessible with a single master password. Some, such as Bitwarden and LastPass, offer an emergency access feature: a person you nominate can request access to your vault, and is let in automatically if you do not decline within a waiting period you choose. Others, such as 1Password, have no such feature. Instead, you keep the account's recovery details (1Password calls this the Emergency Kit) somewhere your executor can find them. Emergency access lets your executor see your passwords. It does not, by itself, give them the right to sign in to your accounts.

A US nonprofit that provides long-term digital preservation services using a one-time fee model that funds a perpetual endowment. Files are stored in multiple locations using the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) principle. All code is open source under AGPL-3.0.

In cryptocurrency, the private key (or seed phrase derived from it) is the only way to access funds in a self-custody wallet. Losing it means losing the cryptocurrency permanently. Unlike a bank account, there is no recovery process. Must be stored securely and included in your estate plan.

The legal process of validating a will and granting an executor the authority to administer an estate. In Ireland, managed by the Probate Office of the High Court.

The right under GDPR Article 17 to request deletion of your personal data from online platforms. Applies during your lifetime; after death, your estate representative may not have the same right unless the platform has its own post-death process.

A sequence of 12 or 24 words that can be used to recover a cryptocurrency wallet. Equivalent to a private key. Must be stored securely, because anyone with the seed phrase has complete access to the associated cryptocurrency.

A cryptographic technique that splits a secret (such as an encryption key) into multiple shares. A defined number of shares (e.g., 3 of 5) must be combined to reconstruct the original secret, so no single person has unilateral access. Used in high-security digital legacy management.

A qualified legal professional. For digital legacy planning, look for a solicitor experienced in wills and estates who is also aware of the specific issues around digital assets. Liscairn can provide referrals.

A recurring payment for a digital service (Netflix, Spotify, gym apps, cloud storage, etc.). Important to include in your account inventory, because ongoing subscriptions will continue charging your estate until cancelled. Your executor needs to know what subscriptions you have.

The primary Irish legislation governing what happens to your property when you die. Does not specifically address digital assets, creating legal uncertainty about the status of online accounts and content in Irish estates.

A security feature that requires a second form of verification (usually a code sent to your phone or generated by an app) in addition to your password. Important for security but can make it extremely difficult for your executor to access your accounts. Consider how your executor would handle 2FA when planning.

A legal document that states your wishes for how your estate should be distributed after your death, and names the executor(s) who should carry this out. To be valid in Ireland, it must be signed in the presence of two witnesses. Should be updated to include digital assets.