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Digital Assets and Your Scottish Will (2026 Guide)

On 16 April 2026, the Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026 received Royal Assent and came into force. For the first time, Scots law formally recognises digital assets — including cryptocurrency, tokens, and other digitally-held property — as a category of property that can be owned, transferred, and inherited. If you hold any digital assets and you live in Scotland, your will should now reflect this.

This plain-English guide explains what the new Act means for your estate, what HMRC will do with your crypto at death, and the one practical step that matters more than any clause in your will.

If you simply want to get your own will in place, you can make a Scottish will online here for a fixed price. Otherwise, read on and take your time.

Contents

1. What changed on 16 April 2026

The Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026 was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament on 5 March 2026 by 114 votes to 0. It received Royal Assent and came into force on 16 April 2026.

Before the Act, Scots law had a real problem. Scottish property law traditionally only recognised corporeal things (physical objects) and incorporeal rights (rights you can enforce, such as a debt). Digital assets fitted into neither, and an Expert Reference Group chaired by Lord Hodge of the UK Supreme Court warned there was a real risk they fell outside the legal definition of property altogether.

Section 2 of the 2026 Act fixes that. It confirms that, in the law of Scotland, digital assets are incorporeal moveables and the general law applies to them so far as is consistent with their nature. In plain English: your bitcoin, your tokens and your digitally-held property are now property in the eyes of Scots law, can be owned, and can be left to someone in your will.

2. What counts as a digital asset under Scots law

The Act sets out a deliberately technology-neutral definition. Under section 1(1), a digital asset is a thing that:

  • arises from an electronic system that makes it rivalrous (one person’s use prevents another from using it), and
  • exists independently from the legal system

The “rivalrous” test matters. It distinguishes a true digital asset (a bitcoin, a token, an NFT) from something that is merely digital (a copy of a photo, an email, a streaming subscription). A bitcoin can only be spent once. An email can be read by anyone with the password without stopping anyone else reading it.

Under section 3 of the Act, a person who has control of a digital asset is presumed to own it, unless the contrary can be shown. For cryptoassets, control generally means holding the private keys. The categories most readers will care about are cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins), NFTs and other unique tokens, and tokens issued by exchanges where ownership is recorded on-chain.

3. Cryptocurrency, IHT, and your Scottish estate

Inheritance Tax is reserved to Westminster, not Holyrood, and the Scottish Parliament was clear during the passage of the 2026 Act that it would not legislate on taxation. What HMRC says is therefore the rule that applies to your Scottish estate.

  • HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Manual (IHTM04030) states that “property” for IHT “includes all types of asset, cash, stocks and shares, cryptoassets etc as well as land and buildings”
  • HMRC’s Cryptoassets Manual (CRYPTO25000) confirms that “cryptoassets will be property for the purposes of Inheritance Tax”
  • CRYPTO10100 makes clear HMRC does not consider cryptoassets to be currency or money — they are property

So for a UK-resident Scottish testator, cryptocurrency forms part of the estate for IHT in the same way as a bank balance or an ISA. If the total estate exceeds the nil-rate band, IHT is calculated on the full value of the estate including the digital assets. The practical consequence: your executor needs to know your digital assets exist, value them at the date of death, and be able to access them in order to settle the IHT and distribute what remains.

4. The real gate is the private key, not the will

This is the single most important point in this guide.

The Law Society of Scotland’s Journal set out the practical reality. Cryptocurrency cannot be transferred by the holder without the passwords, and so it is essential that the executor obtains them. If the deceased has left no means of notifying these passwords or private keys, “the cryptocurrency will be left inaccessible and non-transferable. It may, in fact, be left entirely valueless.”

A Scottish will gives your executor the legal authority to deal with the digital asset. It does not give them the technical access. Without the private keys, the seed phrase, or the password to a custodial exchange, the asset is locked, and Scots law cannot unlock it.

What this means for a sensible Scottish will:

  • Do not put private keys, seed phrases or passwords in the will itself — a will becomes a public document on Confirmation
  • Do reference the existence of digital assets and bequeath them to a named beneficiary, the same way as any other property
  • Use a separate access mechanism outside the will: a sealed letter held with your will documents, or a password manager with succession instructions your executor can reach

For how supporting documents fit alongside the formal will, see our guide to the roles and clauses in a Scottish will.

5. Email, social media, and online accounts

Email accounts, social media profiles and streaming subscriptions are different in character from cryptocurrency. They are typically not rivalrous in the way the 2026 Act requires, and during the Scottish Government’s consultation it was specifically raised that email addresses and social media accounts may sit outside the definition of a qualifying digital asset.

Two further points are worth knowing. First, UK data protection law does not apply to the deceased — the Information Commissioner’s Office confirms that personal information only counts as personal information if it relates to someone who is alive. Second, whether your executor can actually access an email or social media account is governed by the platform’s terms of service with you, not by Scots law. Many large providers have their own legacy or memorialisation processes.

The practical answer is the same as for crypto: do not rely on a will clause to grant access. Plan the handover separately.

6. What a Scottish will can and cannot do

Now that the 2026 Act is in force, a properly drafted Scottish will can bequeath ownership of digital assets, appoint an executor with legal authority over them, and direct what is done with them. It can also refer to a separate access document held with the will documents.

It cannot override platform terms of service, cannot grant practical access without the private keys or credentials, and cannot change the IHT position — taxation is reserved to Westminster.

7. Where the law is still catching up

The 2026 Act fixed the underlying property question, but it did not finish the job. The Law Society of Scotland’s Stage 3 briefing on the Bill explicitly noted that further work would be desirable in relation to succession law, executory practice and family law as they apply to digital assets.

For most Scottish families this is not a reason to wait. The law has now caught up far enough that having no will, or an old will that ignores digital assets, is a worse position than putting a sensible will in place under the new framework.

8. When to speak to a Scottish solicitor

For most Scottish families with a straightforward estate — a home, savings, perhaps some investments and some cryptocurrency held in a personal wallet — a fixed-fee online Scottish will combined with sensible access planning is enough.

It is worth speaking to a Scottish solicitor where:

  • Your digital assets sit on a foreign exchange or a wallet held abroad, raising cross-border questions for your Scottish executor
  • You operate a digital business with significant IP, customer data or domain assets
  • Your estate is large enough that IHT planning needs tailored advice
  • You have unusual succession planning needs, such as trusts or non-UK-resident beneficiaries

For background on the Scottish wills framework generally, see our Scottish Wills Guide.

9. Quick FAQs about digital assets in Scottish wills

Are digital assets now legally recognised as property in Scotland?

Yes. The Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026, in force from 16 April 2026, confirms that digital assets are incorporeal moveables in Scots law and that the general law applies to them so far as is consistent with their nature.

Can I leave my cryptocurrency to someone in my Scottish will?

Yes. Under the 2026 Act, your cryptocurrency is property, can be owned, and can be bequeathed in a Scottish will. The bigger practical issue is making sure your executor can actually access the wallet — which requires the private keys, not just a will clause.

Should I put my private keys or passwords in my will?

No. A Scottish will becomes a public document on Confirmation, so private keys and passwords should never be inside it. Use a separate sealed letter or a secure password handover that your executor can find when needed.

Will my executor be able to access my email and social media accounts?

Not automatically. UK data protection law does not apply after death, but access to email and social media is governed by each platform’s own terms of service. Many providers have a legacy or memorialisation process that your executor will need to follow separately.

Does the new Act change the inheritance tax position on cryptocurrency?

No. Taxation is reserved to Westminster. HMRC already treats cryptoassets as property for Inheritance Tax purposes (see HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Manual at IHTM04030 and the Cryptoassets Manual at CRYPTO25000), and the 2026 Act does not change that position.

Ready to put your Scottish will in place?

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If you have any questions at all, you can contact us — we’re here to help.