Almost every estate now has a digital side: bank apps, email, photos, subscriptions, and increasingly a cryptocurrency holding. These assets carry real financial and personal value, yet they are easy to overlook and often hard to reach. This guide is part of our wider overview of dealing with assets after death in Ireland and focuses on what happens to digital property once someone has died.
Below you'll find practical guidance on three things: how to find and access the deceased's online accounts and crypto holdings, why those crypto holdings form part of the estate, and how Revenue values and taxes them. Digital assets catch many families by surprise — this guide walks you through it step by step.
What counts as a digital asset?
A digital asset is anything of value held in electronic form. Some carry money — cryptocurrency, online bank or savings balances, e-wallets and trading accounts. Others are personal — email, photos, social media and cloud storage. Both kinds matter when administering an estate, because both may need to be secured, accessed or closed.
It helps to separate the two. Assets with financial value must be identified, valued and brought into the estate alongside more familiar assets like the family home or shares and investments. Personal accounts rarely have monetary value but often hold things the family wants to preserve, such as photographs or correspondence — the digital equivalent of the cars and personal belongings that also pass under the estate.
Finding and accessing the deceased's digital assets
The first challenge is simply finding what exists. Digital assets leave few paper trails, so start with the deceased's devices, email inbox and any password manager. Bank and exchange statements, app icons on a phone, and emails confirming accounts or transactions are often the only clues that a holding is there at all.
Accessing financial accounts usually requires a grant of representation — the court document that gives the personal representative (the executor or administrator) legal authority to deal with the estate. Where money is held in the deceased's sole name, institutions will not release it until that grant issues. The CCPC notes one exception: a bank may release a small balance on an indemnity form, which protects the bank if another claim arises later.
Funds in the deceased's sole-name bank account
No — usually not until a grant of representation issues, unless the balance is small and the bank releases it on an indemnity form
Cryptocurrency in a self-custody wallet
Only if you have the private keys or recovery phrase — no provider can reset access
Cryptocurrency on an exchange
On request, after the exchange's bereavement process and proof of the grant
Email, photos, social media, cloud storage
Through each provider's bereavement or legacy process — terms vary by provider
Whether you can access a digital asset depends on how it is held. Sources: Citizens Information, CCPC, Revenue.
| Type of asset | Can you usually access it? |
|---|---|
| Funds in the deceased's sole-name bank account | No — usually not until a grant of representation issues, unless the balance is small and the bank releases it on an indemnity form |
| Cryptocurrency in a self-custody wallet | Only if you have the private keys or recovery phrase — no provider can reset access |
| Cryptocurrency on an exchange | On request, after the exchange's bereavement process and proof of the grant |
| Email, photos, social media, cloud storage | Through each provider's bereavement or legacy process — terms vary by provider |
Personal accounts follow each provider's own rules. Email, social media and cloud platforms run bereavement or legacy processes that may memorialise, close or release an account. They typically ask for the death certificate and proof of the grant. It can be tempting to log in with a saved password — but doing so can breach the provider's terms. Use the official bereavement process, even when access feels urgent.
Cryptocurrency is part of the estate
Revenue is clear that there are no special tax rules for crypto-assets, and that their characteristics are more aligned to those of assets than of currency. For probate, that means cryptocurrency the deceased owned is treated like any other asset of value: it forms part of the estate and must be accounted for before distribution.
Practically, the personal representative should record each holding, note where it is held (self-custody wallet or named exchange), and secure access details safely. The holding is then valued and entered into the estate accounts, just as a bank balance or shareholding would be. For a fuller walkthrough of bringing assets together, see our guide to valuing an estate for probate.
How digital assets are valued and taxed
Crypto valuation is less straightforward than it looks. Revenue points out that, unlike shares, the value of a crypto-asset can differ between exchanges, so there is not always a single exchange rate. You must make a reasonable effort to use an appropriate valuation for the transaction in question.
For Capital Acquisitions Tax, the rule is specific. Revenue values a crypto-asset received by gift or inheritance at its euro-equivalent market value at the valuation date of the gift or inheritance. The price on the day the asset is valued, converted to euro, is the figure that goes into the CAT calculation — not what the deceased originally paid.
Dealing with a digital asset for tax: four steps
From recognising the asset to filing any return, a digital holding follows the same path as any other inheritance.
Treat the digital asset as part of the estate
Money has value whether it sits in a bank or in a crypto wallet. Revenue treats crypto-assets as assets, not currency, so a holding the deceased owned forms part of their estate in the same way as shares or a bank balance. It must be identified, valued and accounted for before the estate is distributed.
Establish the euro value at the valuation date
For Capital Acquisitions Tax, Revenue values a crypto-asset received by gift or inheritance at its euro-equivalent market value on the valuation date. Because there is no single exchange rate across crypto exchanges, Revenue expects a reasonable effort to use an appropriate valuation. Keep a dated screenshot or exchange record showing the price you used.
Apply the beneficiary's CAT group threshold
A digital asset is taxed under the same rules as any other inheritance. Add its value to the rest of what the beneficiary receives, compare the total against their CAT group threshold, and remember that crossing 80% of that threshold triggers a filing obligation even where no tax is due.
File and pay any CAT due
Where a beneficiary's total benefits exceed the threshold, CAT is charged at 33% on the excess and is reported on a Form IT38. Filing and payment follow the standard pay-and-file deadline tied to the valuation date, exactly as for cash, property or shares.
A practical note on records: because crypto prices move quickly and differ by exchange, keep a dated screenshot or exchange statement showing the euro value you used and the source. If Revenue later queries the figure, that contemporaneous record is the simplest way to show you made the reasonable effort the guidance expects.
Should you get professional help?
Many digital estates are straightforward, but some are not. It is worth getting professional help if any of these apply:
- there is a significant or volatile crypto holding;
- access details are missing or incomplete;
- assets are spread across overseas exchanges; or
- the values push a beneficiary over their CAT threshold and a Form IT38 is needed.