Digital Wealth Protection: Introducing DIFC Digital Assets Wills
In a world that is constantly evolving, the way we manage wealth and inheritance must also evolve. Once, people only needed to worry about passing on physical assets—homes, bank accounts, and personal belongings. But today, more and more of our lives are lived online, and our wealth is increasingly digital. Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other blockchain-based assets have become significant parts of personal portfolios, creating new challenges when it comes to inheritance.
Recognizing the growing importance of digital assets, the DIFC has introduced a new type of will: Digital Assets Will. This addition complements the existing five types of wills offered by the DIFC—Full Wills, Property Wills, Financial Assets Wills, Business Owners Wills, and Guardianship Wills—by providing the same level of protection for your digital investments as it does for your physical assets.
Imagine this: You have spent years building up a portfolio of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets. These assets do not exist in a physical vault; they live in a digital space and accessing them requires more than just a key. Without a will that encompass these digital assets, your loved ones may struggle to access or even locate them when you are gone. Recognizing this, the DIFC Digital Assets Will is designed to ensure that your digital wealth is securely transferred to the people you care about, avoiding complications or loss due to technical or legal barriers. Upon registration, you as testator will receive an email containing instructions to access the DIFC Courts’ non-custodial wallet that is built on the Hedera Distributed Ledger Technology. The DIFC Courts’ wallet allows you the freedom to assign your digital assets to your listed beneficiaries as intended during your lifetime at no additional cost. In the event that you wish to make changes to your list of beneficiaries, your will shall be modified accordingly for a fee as applicable.
Currently, the DIFC Courts’ wallet supports digital assets such as Ethereum Classic (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Matic, USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Hedera (HBAR), and Hedera Token Service (HTS). Looking ahead, the DIFC Courts' wallet may expand and could support NFTs, including ERC 721, ERC 1155, Ordinals, and HTS.
The cost to register a Digital Assets Will is AED 5,000 for a single Will and AED 7,500 for mirror Wills. It is also possible to include this option in a full DIFC Will to distribute digital assets in the same way, if you wish to do so.
For individuals growing their wealth in both the physical and digital worlds, the DIFC Digital Assets Will provides essential protection. It ensures that even the most complicated digital assets are safely passed down to your loved ones and not left behind or forgotten. This innovative DIFC Digital Assets Will solution tackles contemporary challenges in the digital age, safeguarding your legacy both online and offline.
Alejandra Esmoris | Head of Private Clients
Perla Baaklini | Associate