Clients, and their advisers, are getting much better at considering digital assets when undertaking estate planning. It is now usual practice to consider online accounts, crypto assets and a wide range of other digital assets with significant financial value when putting in place wills and thinking about wider succession planning. However, digital assets with purely sentimental value are still often overlooked.

It was sad to see another story in the news about someone unable to access photos stored by a loved one on a digital device.

In this case, a lady had died unexpectedly. Her phone contained many photos of sentimental importance, including of her wedding, which her husband is keen to get access to. However, not knowing the pass code for the phone, he has been unable to get Apple to grant him access or give him the files.

Apple, along with most digital service providers, cite data protection and privacy concerns in refusing to grant access in these circumstances. Unfortunately, with laws failing to keep up with the pace of technological change, there is currently not much that can be done after a loved one has died to argue against this stance.

However, undertaking some digital estate planning during lifetime can ensure that loved ones will be able to access your digital assets after your death if you want them to. Apple, Facebook and Google all provide users with some degree of control as to who can access an account after the user's death - increasingly, smaller providers are also starting to offer this service. The options vary from provider to provider, but spending a bit of time now setting these up can save a lot of heartache later on.