Digital legacy and Irish law
Irish law has not kept pace with digital life. Here is what the current legal framework says — and the gaps you need to plan around yourself.
The core problem in one sentence
Irish law does not clearly treat digital accounts as property — which means they are not automatically covered by your will, your executor may not have the right to access them, and platforms are not legally obliged to cooperate.
The Succession Act 1965
The Succession Act 1965 governs how property passes when someone dies in Ireland. It was written long before digital accounts existed and has not been updated to address them.
Under the Act, your estate — the property you leave behind — passes either according to your will or, if you die without one, under the rules of intestacy (automatic legal distribution to your nearest relatives). The Act deals with tangible property and clearly identifiable assets.
Digital accounts present a fundamental difficulty: most of them are not owned by the account holder. When you create a Facebook account, you agree to Facebook's terms of service. Those terms typically grant you a personal, non-transferable licence to use the platform — not ownership of the account itself. The account cannot be "given to" someone in a will in the traditional sense because it was never yours to give.
Clearly covered by will
- •Bank accounts and savings
- •Cryptocurrency (private keys = ownership)
- •Digital files you own outright (documents, photos on your device)
- •Domain names registered in your name
- •Royalties and digital intellectual property
Legally uncertain
- •Email account content
- •Social media profiles and history
- •Cloud-stored personal files
- •Online gaming accounts with purchased assets
- •Loyalty and reward points
Not transferable
- •Streaming service subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify)
- •Purchased digital books, films, and music (you bought a licence, not the content)
- •App Store and Google Play purchases
- •Platform-specific virtual currencies
GDPR and the right to be forgotten
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies across the EU and Ireland. Under Article 17, you have the right to request deletion of your personal data from platforms during your lifetime. However, GDPR rights are personal — they apply to living individuals and do not automatically pass to your estate after death.
This creates a paradox: you can request deletion of your data while you are alive, but your family may not be able to request it on your behalf after you die — unless you have explicitly authorised them to do so, or the platform has a separate post-death process.
Practical implication: If you want your digital content deleted after your death, you need to either set this up in advance through the platform's own settings (Facebook, Google, and Apple all have this option) or explicitly authorise someone in writing to act on your behalf. A general power of attorney ends at death — you need specific post-death instructions.
What your executor can — and cannot — do
When you appoint an executor in your will, they are granted the authority to administer your estate. In practice, this authority is well-understood for physical and financial property: they can access your bank account, sell your house, and distribute your belongings.
For digital accounts, the position is far less clear. Most platforms operate under US law and are not bound by Irish probate letters. Facebook, Google, and Apple have their own post-death processes — and compliance with these processes is voluntary on their part, not legally required under Irish law. An Irish probate grant does not automatically compel a US company to hand over account access.
The practical result is that your executor may spend months in correspondence with platform legal teams, submitting death certificates, awaiting responses, and sometimes being refused — even with a valid Irish grant of probate.
Common frustrations executors face in Ireland
- Platform customer support teams are not trained to handle death-related requests and escalate to legal teams — adding weeks to the process
- Platforms require a death certificate in a specific format; Irish death certificates sometimes require additional notarisation for US companies
- Some platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp) have no executor access path at all — only memorialisation or deletion
- Crypto wallets without a private key backup are permanently inaccessible — there is no "forgot my keys" process on the blockchain
- Subscription services continue charging the estate until someone finds them — bank statements are the most reliable discovery method
The Law Reform Commission and the case for change
The Law Reform Commission (LRC) is the independent Irish body that reviews law and makes recommendations for reform. Digital assets and digital legacy have been identified as an area requiring legislative attention.
Several jurisdictions have already enacted laws specifically addressing digital assets in estates. In the United States, the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) has been adopted by 47 states, providing executors with a legal framework for accessing digital accounts. The UK Law Commission has also undertaken a review of digital assets in estates.
Ireland has not yet enacted equivalent legislation. Until it does, the practical burden falls on individuals to plan around the gap — using platform-specific legacy tools, explicit will clauses, and password management to give their executors the best possible position.
What good legislation would look like
- →A statutory right for named executors to access digital accounts under Irish law, binding on platforms operating in Ireland
- →A clear definition of "digital assets" as estate property, subject to normal succession rules
- →A presumption that digital legacy contacts nominated on platforms represent the deceased's wishes
- →A requirement for platforms to respond to verified death and executor notifications within a defined timeframe
- →GDPR clarification on the rights of estate representatives to request data on behalf of deceased persons
What to do now, given the current law
Add a digital assets clause to your will
Ask your solicitor to include a clause that explicitly names your digital assets, appoints a digital executor, and references your "Digital Wishes" document. While not legally enforceable against US platforms, it establishes your intentions clearly and gives your executor documented authority to act on your behalf.
Name a digital executor
This can be the same person as your general executor or someone more comfortable with technology. Give them: your account inventory, your Digital Wishes document, and your password access method. Make sure they know they have this role.
Use platform-native legacy tools — they are legally more effective than a will
Ironically, Facebook's Legacy Contact and Apple's Digital Legacy features are more effective than an Irish will for accessing those platforms' content, because they operate within each platform's own framework. Set these up — they bypass the need for your executor to go through a legal process.
Store cryptocurrency private keys with your will
Irish courts have begun dealing with cryptocurrency estate disputes. The only way to ensure your crypto reaches your beneficiaries is to store the private key or seed phrase securely with your will — or in a hardware wallet you give to a trusted person. Without the key, the crypto is permanently lost.
Back up content you own to devices or drives you own
Content on your own devices is clearly your property under Irish law. Content in your Facebook or Google account is legally ambiguous. Download and store your photos, documents, and important content on hardware or cloud storage where ownership is clear.
Grant a lasting power of attorney for digital accounts
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 can authorise someone to act on your behalf if you lose capacity — including, potentially, managing digital accounts. Discuss this with your solicitor.