A digital legacy is everything a person leaves online at their death: accounts and inboxes, photos and documents stored in the cloud, subscriptions, digital assets and personal messages. Without preparation, most of it remains inaccessible to relatives or lingers online with no one in control. Organising it rests on four complementary workstreams: the estate with a notary or attorney, access credentials with a password manager, the fate of accounts and data with each platform, and personal messages with a foresight service such as Hugete, which delivers letters, photos, videos and voice messages on a chosen date or after death through an inactivity check (HugVeille) confirmed by a trusted contact (HugGuard).
Your digital legacy is everything you leave online at your death: your accounts and inboxes, your photos and documents in the cloud, your subscriptions, your digital assets — and the words you would have wanted to pass on. We spend a growing share of our lives behind screens, yet almost no one organises what will become of it. The result: after a death, families face profiles that stay online, subscriptions that keep being charged, and thousands of photos locked behind a password no one knows. This page covers the whole subject — what a digital legacy includes, what the legal landscape looks like, and how to organise it in practice, one workstream at a time.
What is a digital legacy?
A digital legacy — sometimes discussed under the broader banner of digital estate planning — covers all the traces, content and digital rights a person leaves behind. In practice, it includes:
- Accounts: email, social networks, online banking, government portals, streaming and shopping platforms
- Content: photos, videos, documents and correspondence stored in the cloud or on devices
- Commitments: paid subscriptions and recurring services that keep running until someone stops them
- Assets: cryptocurrencies, domain names, purchased content libraries, possible online income
- The intangible: the messages, memories and voice recordings you would want to reach your loved ones
These elements do not follow the same rules: some belong to the estate and to a notary or attorney, others to each platform's terms of service — and some belong to no framework at all, which is exactly why you have to decide for them yourself, during your lifetime.
What happens to accounts after a death?
Without arrangements made in advance, the scenario is almost always the same: profiles stay online, sometimes surfacing painful automatic reminders; subscriptions keep being charged until the bank is informed; and photos and correspondence stay out of the family's reach for lack of access. Each platform then applies its own rules — memorialised profiles, deletion upon a documented request from heirs, legacy contacts you can name during your lifetime — through procedures that are often slow and uneven.
Legal frameworks are emerging in many countries: some recognise heirs' rights over a deceased person's accounts, others let individuals leave instructions about their data, and platform policies fill part of the gap. What is recognised, and how, varies widely from one jurisdiction to another and continues to evolve. The reflex is always the same — discuss your situation with a notary or estate attorney, who can fit your digital wishes into your overall estate plan. This page describes the general landscape and is not legal advice.
The 4 workstreams of a digital legacy
Digital transmission is not one task but four, each with its own counterpart and its own tool. Confusing them means entrusting things to the wrong place:
| Workstream | What it covers | The right counterpart or tool |
|---|---|---|
| Estate & succession | Property, bank accounts, valuable digital assets, testamentary wishes | A notary or estate attorney — the will and the digital will |
| Access & passwords | Credentials for email, social networks, cloud, devices | A password manager with an emergency-access feature |
| Fate of accounts & data | Memorialisation, deletion, post-mortem instructions | The platforms (legacy contacts) + instructions, raised with your professional |
| Words & memories | Letters, photos, videos, voice messages to pass on | Hugete — a posthumous message or a digital time capsule |
None of these tools replaces the others: the notary will not pass on your passwords, a password manager will not carry your letters, and Hugete will not settle your estate. Only the four together make a complete transmission.
Organising your digital legacy in 5 steps
- Take inventory — list your accounts, subscriptions, storage spaces and devices. It is the step everyone skips, and the one that spares your relatives months of paperwork.
- Settle the estate with a professional — will, protection of a spouse, valuable digital assets. Nothing replaces this legal foundation.
- Secure your access — a password manager with emergency access for a trusted relative. Never scatter credentials in letters.
- Decide the fate of your accounts and data — legacy contacts offered by the platforms, post-mortem instructions where your country provides for them, coordinated with your professional.
- Prepare your words with Hugete — write your messages (Hugz), name your loved ones (HugOnes), choose the trigger: a fixed date, or delivery after death through the inactivity check (HugVeille), confirmed by your trusted contact (HugGuard).
The part no one else will pass on: your words
The four workstreams do not carry the same weight. A forgotten subscription costs a few euros; a letter never written is missed for a lifetime. After a death, families find statements and contracts — rarely the words that mattered. That is the emotional legacy: what appears in no inventory, and what neither a professional, nor the platforms, nor a password manager will ever transmit. We wrote a dedicated article about it: passing on the words that matter.
That is exactly Hugete's role: a foresight service — with no legal force, and no substitute for a notary or attorney — where your letters, photos, videos and voice messages wait for the moment you have chosen. When the time comes, each loved one receives a link to their private reception page (HugBox), with no account to create. Your content is encrypted and hosted in Germany under the GDPR — the details are on our security page. The free plan lets you prepare 2 messages for 2 loved ones; the Hug Essentiel (€2.99/month) and Hug Eternal (€6.99/month) plans extend messages, storage and blockchain certification (HugCert) — see our pricing and the full list of features. More questions? Our FAQ answers them in detail.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a digital legacy?
It is everything a person leaves online at their death: accounts and inboxes, photos and documents stored in the cloud, subscriptions, digital assets (cryptocurrencies, domain names) and personal messages. Unlike a traditional estate, it is not automatically handled by succession: each category follows its own rules, and part of it — the words, the memories — belongs to no framework at all unless you take care of it yourself during your lifetime.
What happens to a deceased person's accounts if nothing was planned?
They generally stay online: profiles remain visible, subscriptions keep being charged until the bank is notified, and photos and correspondence become inaccessible for lack of a password. Relatives then have to work platform by platform — memorialisation, deletion upon documented request — through often slow procedures. Heirs' rights vary widely from country to country, and nothing replaces arrangements made in advance.
Is digital estate planning the same as making a will?
No. A will is a legal instrument that governs your estate — property, assets, heirs — and must follow the forms your country's law requires. Digital estate planning is the broader, everyday practice of organising your entire online life for the day you are gone: the will is one of its four workstreams, alongside access credentials, the fate of your accounts and data, and your personal messages. For anything legal, the right person is a notary or estate attorney.
Can Hugete manage my accounts or passwords after my death?
No, and that is by design. Hugete does not close accounts, does not store credentials, and does not stand in for the platforms or for a password manager with an emergency-access feature. Hugete transmits what those tools will never carry: your letters, photos, videos and voice messages, delivered to your loved ones on a chosen date or after your death through the inactivity check (HugVeille), confirmed by your trusted contact (HugGuard).
How can I be sure my messages will arrive after my death?
The inactivity check (HugVeille) sends you regular check-ins: as long as you respond, nothing is sent. After a prolonged silence, your trusted contact (HugGuard) is asked to confirm the situation, with a 48-hour safety delay that rules out any accidental delivery. When the time comes, each loved one (HugOne) receives a link to their private reception page (HugBox), with no account to create and no app to install.
Is my content safe in the meantime?
Your messages are encrypted and hosted in Germany under the GDPR. No one — not our team, not your relatives, not your HugGuard — can read their content before the delivery you have defined. You can edit or delete them at any time until they are delivered. The full picture is on our security and privacy page.