Digital assets and your LPA

Written by Oliver Asha, Solicitor & TEP
Published: 26 October 2026

Your attorneys can deal with your money, but your phone, email and online accounts are less clear. An LPA does not give your attorneys your passwords. Many online services also forbid you from sharing them. This instruction says plainly that your attorneys may deal with your devices and digital accounts. It cannot make every provider agree.

This guide is one of a series on the preferences and instructions our LPAs offer.

The clause: access and control over digital assets

What it does. It gives your attorneys authority to access, use and control your devices. That means your computers, tablets, phones and storage. It also lets them access, change, delete, control and transfer your digital assets. These include email, digital music, photos, videos, software licences, social media, file sharing, financial accounts, domain names, web hosting, tax software and online shops. It covers technology that does not exist yet, too. The clause is an instruction in your property and financial affairs LPA.

Why it helps.

  • It removes doubt. The official guidance for attorneys does not mention devices or online accounts. This clause does.
  • It gives your attorneys something to show. A provider can see in writing that you wanted your attorneys to deal with your accounts.
  • It covers the small things. Paying for a subscription, cancelling one you no longer use, or saving family photos before an account closes.
  • It keeps up with change. New devices and services are covered without changing your LPA.

What the law and official guidance say

Attorneys deal with organisations as your attorney. GOV.UK says a property and financial affairs attorney makes decisions about things like money, bills and bank and building society accounts. It adds that Banks and other organisations (such as utility companies and pension providers) will ask for proof that you are an attorney. So the normal route is for your attorneys to register the LPA with each provider. It is not for them to log in as you.

The official guidance is silent on digital assets. We checked the Office of the Public Guardian’s guide to making an LPA and the GOV.UK guide for attorneys. Neither mentions online accounts, passwords or digital assets.

Sharing passwords can break a provider’s terms. The Law Commission looked at this in a 2017 consultation paper on wills. It said that people’s rights over devices and accounts depend on a user agreement, and that these agreements vary widely. On online accounts it said: Sharing passwords will facilitate access but doing so may be a breach of the terms of the user agreement. It also noted that many digital music collections are only licences, which can end on the user’s death. The paper concerned death and wills, not LPAs. But the same problem arises when someone loses capacity.

Unauthorised access to a computer is a crime. Under section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, it is an offence to make a computer perform any function to get access to a program or data, knowing that access is unauthorised. Access is unauthorised if the person is not entitled to control it and does not have consent from someone who is. That is one reason clear written permission matters. We have found no reported case about an attorney under an LPA and this Act.

The law is still catching up. In 2017 the Law Commission said it appears to us that law reform is necessary regarding access to digital devices and social media accounts. That was a view, not a change in the law. Its 2023 report on digital assets dealt with whether digital things can be property. It did not cover access on death or incapacity, and noted that a separate project had been suggested. The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 came into force on 2 December 2025. It confirms that a digital thing is not prevented from being property just because it fits neither of the old categories. It says nothing about who may log in to your accounts.

Your attorneys must still act in your best interests. The official guide says Instructions tell your attorneys what they must do when acting on your behalf. It also says attorneys always have to act in your best interests. So the power to delete or transfer something is not a reason to do it. Your attorneys should only use it when it is right for you.

Without this clause

  • Your attorneys may still manage a lot. A property and financial affairs LPA lets them deal with your bank accounts. They show the LPA to each bank.
  • Other accounts are less certain. Your attorneys may not know whether they are allowed to open your laptop, read your email or deal with your cloud photos.
  • They may be tempted to use your passwords. That can break the provider’s terms, and it leaves no clear record of who did what.
  • Things can be lost. If nobody can deal with an account, a subscription may lapse or files may be hard to recover.

What can go wrong: Rahman v Hassan

There is very little case law about attorneys and online accounts. But one recent High Court case shows how unclear handing over passwords can be.

Mr Al Mahmood was 82 and seriously ill in October 2020. A younger man who called him Uncle had been helping him and his wife for years [5] [29]. On 20 October, Mr Al Mahmood explained all the login details for his online accounts to him. He handed over bank cards, cheque books, login devices and PIN readers. He said that everything was his [39]. Mr Al Mahmood died three days later [6].

His executors disputed that this was a gift. The claim began in December 2021 [2], and the trial took place in late 2023 [3]. The judge noted that customers are told never to write down or share their passwords, although many do [112]. He held that a login and password are the indicia of title in the computer age. In other words, they work like the key to a locked box. But sharing them could mean many things. Someone might share a password just so another person can make a single payment for them. The question is one of evidence of intention [160].

The judge found that Mr Al Mahmood intended a gift, conditional on his death [153]. The claim largely succeeded [164]. In August 2024 the judge gave the executors permission to appeal, including on the passwords point [C69]. We have not found a published appeal decision, so the legal position may change.

The lesson. This was a case about a gift on death, not about an LPA. But it shows that passing on passwords is ambiguous. One person may see help with paperwork. Another may see a gift of everything. It took two and a half years of court proceedings to decide which, and permission to appeal followed. An LPA records in writing what your attorneys may do for you while you are alive.

Preference or instruction?

This clause is an instruction, because it gives your attorneys authority they must be able to rely on. Your wishes about what happens to particular things are better written as preferences. For example, you might want family photos kept, or certain accounts closed. Your attorneys should bear preferences in mind but do not have to follow them. Our questionnaire uses the right form for each.

Practical tips

  • Keep a list of your devices and accounts. Say what each one is for and where your attorneys can find the details. Update it when things change.
  • Check each provider’s terms before you share a password. The Law Commission warned that sharing passwords may breach them.
  • Look at the provider’s own tools. Some services let you name a trusted contact or say what should happen to your account. The Law Commission mentioned tools from Google and Facebook in 2017. Check what your providers offer now.
  • Attorneys should contact each provider as your attorney. That means showing the registered LPA, as they would with a bank.
  • Remember the LPA ends when you die. After that, your executors deal with your estate under your will.

Our other guides cover accounts and professional help and investments and money.

Make your wishes clear before anyone needs to guess. Our LPAs include this clause, with a solicitor checking everything before you sign. £120 per LPA including VAT.

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This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Providers may still apply their own rules and processes. If you have valuable digital assets, or you are an attorney having trouble with a provider, please get in touch.

Sources

Oliver Asha, Solicitor and TEP, founder of Capacity Vault

Oliver Asha

Solicitor · TEP · Founder of Capacity Vault

Oliver is a Solicitor of England and Wales (SRA number 372772) and a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP). He qualified in 2006 and founded Capacity Vault Limited, the company behind both Capacity Vault and Make a Will. He also founded Make a Will Online and Digilegal Trustees. He built Capacity Vault after watching his own family struggle to arrange a capacity assessment. He is the named author of the guides and articles on this site.

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