Guide · 5 min

Digital legacy: what a will covers, and what it does not

“I've made a will, it's sorted.” That is what most people think, and it is true — for the part a will covers. The misunderstanding starts right after.

This article is not legal advice: for your own situation, a notary or solicitor remains the right person to ask. The aim here is to show where the legal tool stops, and what remains yours to arrange.

What a will does very well

A will organises the devolution of your estate: who receives what, within the limits the law sets. Drawn up before a notary and registered, it is certain to be found and it is enforceable.

For anything with patrimonial value — property, accounts, contracts, objects — it is the tool, and nothing replaces it.

What it does not do: access

A will can name the heir of an account; it does not give them the password. Your heirs will inherit the value of a crypto wallet — but without the key, that value is permanently out of reach. This has become common, and no court ruling recreates a lost key.

The same applies, on a smaller scale, to the mailbox holding every invoice, the storage account with the photos, or the password manager.

What it does not do: the words

A will is a legal instrument, not a letter. Wishes can be attached — funeral arrangements, organ donation — but it is neither the place nor the form to write to your daughter, explain a decision, or pass on a memory.

And it is read in a very particular setting: at the notary's office, with the heirs present, in the weeks following the death. Rarely the right moment or the right room for something intimate.

What it does not do: the timing

A will takes effect at death, full stop. It cannot hand a letter to a child on their eighteenth birthday, or a message to someone in ten years.

That dimension — choosing *when* something arrives — simply does not exist in the classic legal toolbox.

Digital directives, the overlooked piece

France's 2016 Digital Republic Act created a specific mechanism: you can leave directives about what happens to your personal data after death, and appoint someone to see them respected. Comparable rules exist elsewhere.

It is useful and free, but it stays declaratory: those directives state what you want, they provide no technical means of achieving it. They mostly organise deletion and closure — rarely the transmission of content.

How the three fit together

These tools are not in competition: they address different problems and complement each other.

—The notary for the estate: whatever has legal and financial value.
—Digital directives for the fate of your data: what the platforms must do.
—An encrypted transmission setup for access and words: what your family should receive, and when.