This standard defines the minimum requirements for a complete digital estate inventory — the foundational document that enables adequate administration of a deceased person's digital and online assets. It specifies what account categories must be documented, what information is required for each account, and what constitutes an inventory that meets the minimum threshold for estate administration purposes.
This standard applies to digital estate inventories created for estate administration purposes — that is, inventories created either before death as part of estate planning, or during estate administration after a death has occurred.
This standard covers:
This standard does not cover:
An adequate digital estate inventory must include documentation for all accounts in the following categories. Omission of any mandatory category — even if no known accounts in that category exist — must be explicitly noted as "No known accounts in this category" rather than left blank.
Why explicit acknowledgment matters: An inventory that is silent about a category creates ambiguity — it may mean no accounts exist, or it may mean the category was not checked. An adequate inventory must be unambiguous. Either accounts are documented or their absence is confirmed.
For each account documented in the inventory, the following fields apply. Mandatory fields must be completed for the inventory to meet the minimum standard. Recommended fields significantly improve the utility of the inventory for estate administration purposes.
| Field | Requirement | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Platform / Institution Name | Mandatory | The name of the platform, service, or financial institution exactly as it identifies itself. |
| Account Category | Mandatory | One of the eight categories defined in Section 3. |
| Account Identifier | Mandatory | The primary identifier for the account — email address, phone number, username, account number, or other platform-recognized credential. For most online accounts, this is the email address used at registration. For financial institutions, this may be an account number or member ID. |
| Associated Email Address | Recommended | When known and applicable — the email address associated with the account. Enables bereavement requests, platform notifications, and account recovery. Should be documented whenever identifiable. |
| Preferred Disposition | Mandatory | One of: Close, Memorialize, Transfer to [named person], Preserve, or No preference stated. Records the account holder's intent. Does not itself create legal authority or override beneficiary designations or applicable law. |
| Date of Last Known Activity | Recommended | Approximate date of last active use. Helps prioritize administration tasks and identify dormant accounts. |
| Approximate Balance or Value | Recommended | Required for financial accounts; strongly recommended for accounts with stored credit or loyalty value. Does not need to be precise — an order of magnitude estimate is sufficient. |
| Beneficiary or Designated Recipient | Recommended | For financial accounts with beneficiary designation options. Confirms whether a designation exists and who the designated beneficiary is. |
| Account Username | Optional | Username or handle if different from email address. Useful for accounts where username is required for platform notification. |
| Notes | Optional | Any additional context relevant to estate administration — account significance, specific access instructions, or family preferences. |
On passwords: This standard does not require or recommend documenting passwords in the digital estate inventory. Credentials change frequently and create significant security risks if stored insecurely. Each account should be documented using its most appropriate platform-recognized identifier — an email address, phone number, username, account number, or other credential. Recording an identifier does not itself authorize access to the account.
A digital estate inventory meets the VLS-001 adequacy threshold when:
Authority required: Discovery activities must be performed only by the account holder or by a person with appropriate legal authority and lawful access. Possession of a device or family relationship does not by itself establish authority to access an account. Applicable law, fiduciary authority, and platform terms govern what actions are permitted.
When creating a digital estate inventory after a death has occurred — rather than from the account holder's own knowledge — the following discovery methods are ordered by completeness and reliability.
When lawful access to an email account is available, inbox and archive searches can reveal a substantial portion of accounts associated with that address. The following search terms are particularly effective: "welcome to," "subscription," "receipt," "invoice," "verify your email," "your account," "payment confirmation," and "unsubscribe." These searches typically surface a large portion of accounts associated with the email address. Email review should be treated as one discovery method, not as a complete or definitive record.
Bank and credit card statements for the 12 months prior to death surface all accounts with recurring financial charges. Each recurring charge identifies at minimum a subscription account; each transfer or payment identifies a financial platform or payment application.
Applications installed on smartphones, tablets, and computers provide additional account identification. Browser saved passwords (if accessible) provide a comprehensive account list from the deceased's perspective.
Tax returns for the 2 to 3 years prior to death identify financial accounts through interest income (1099-INT), dividend income (1099-DIV), and retirement account activity. Every financial institution that issued a tax document is a financial account requiring administration.
Vera Legacy Standards are independent, voluntary practice frameworks developed by Vera Legacy for practical use in digital estate planning and administration. They are not laws, regulations, legal advice, or government-recognized standards.
Compliance with this standard does not guarantee legal authority to access, manage, transfer, or delete any digital account or asset. Legal authority is governed by applicable law, court orders, fiduciary appointments, platform terms, and professional legal advice.
Use and citation: Free to reference, cite, link to, and use internally with attribution to Vera Legacy. Republishing or modifying the standard in full requires written permission. Contact hello@veralegacy.com.
Professional comment: Corrections, observations from practice, and suggested improvements are welcomed at hello@veralegacy.com. Significant contributions will be acknowledged in subsequent revisions.
Vera Legacy. (2026). VLS-001: Digital Estate Inventory Standard. Version 1.0, First Edition. https://veralegacy.com/standards/vls-001/