Digital estate planning in South Africa

Digital estate planning is the record and instruction system for digital property, electronically stored records and online accounts after death or incapacity. It works alongside the will and ordinary estate plan. It does not replace the Master's appointment of an executor or a service provider's own deceased-account procedure.

The work includes locating assets, confirming who owns them, identifying financial or operational value, recording the desired outcome, using provider legacy tools where available, preparing secure recovery instructions and assigning professional work.

Keep three records distinct: the inventory says what exists, the will or instruction record says what should happen, and the protected access record contains sensitive recovery information. The first two may refer to the location of the third. They should not repeat its secrets.

A password manager or encrypted vault can reduce scattered credentials, but its emergency or recovery features differ by product. Test the chosen route without revealing the secret. Record what happens if the trusted contact dies, the provider closes, the master password changes or the only security key is lost.

Two-factor authentication may depend on a phone number, SIM, authenticator app, email address, recovery code or hardware key. The inventory should identify the dependency and the lawful recovery route. It should not duplicate the code.

South Africa's Cybercrimes Act criminalises unlawful access and certain unlawful uses of passwords or access codes. Knowing a password does not by itself settle whether a person may use it. The executor or lawyer should confirm authority and use the provider's formal process where required.

Biometrics can fail after death, devices can lock or erase after repeated attempts, and remote administration can change stored data. A family member should not experiment on the only device holding a wallet or authentication record. Preserve it and obtain specialist advice.

Confirm whether the individual or the company owns each domain, hosting account, marketplace profile, code repository, advertising account, payment integration, customer database and original work. A personal login used for company property can create both continuity and privacy problems.

Move business administration to role-based access where the provider permits it. Keep more than one authorised administrator, document renewal dates and payment methods, and name an emergency decision-maker under the company's governance documents.

Client and employee data remains subject to legal, contractual and security duties. POPIA defines personal information by reference to an identifiable living natural person and, where applicable, an existing juristic person. It does not justify treating a deceased person's whole account as unprotected, because the account may contain information about living people and organisations.

Coordinate the digital continuity record with the business succession plan. The executor, company directors and technical administrators have different authority.