Specialist capability
Protection | Discovery | Recovery
More estates now include assets that sit outside the traditional institutions — cryptocurrency, online accounts, and data locked on devices. We give your firm a specialist capability to locate, secure, recover and deal with those digital assets on behalf of the estate.
Protect, secure and quarantine digital assets on death or incapacity, before they can be lost or accessed by others.
Locate and recover digital assets for estates — from cryptocurrency and financial accounts to social media and loyalty programs.
Close digital accounts, recover content, and remove the digital footprint of a person or entity.
Each of these can be requested for a specific matter. We report back to your firm; the practitioner advises the client.
We check whether a deceased person held accounts at the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, weighted by account numbers and trading volume, plus exchanges prominent in the Australian market. Certified copies of the death certificate and photo ID are required. You receive a report listing accounts found and the next steps.
We check with banks and financial institutions whether a deceased person held accounts, and where one is found we provide that institution's requirements to recover the funds. Available to the executor or administrator, with certified identity and authority documents.
Enquiries are directed to the major social media and online platforms to locate accounts held under the person's legal name, aliases or nicknames — useful for account closure, memorialisation or recovering content and digital assets.
Where a drive or device has failed, we attempt to recover the data — in the great majority of cases successfully. Work is performed in an ISO 14644-1 Class 5 clean room. A quote follows an initial assessment; standard turnaround is 5–10 business days with priority options available.
Executors often face computers, tablets and drives that are password-protected or encrypted. We run preliminary tests, estimate the effort involved, and attempt access using leading white-hat techniques. Access is not guaranteed and all work is performed in Australia by certified engineers.
Once digital assets are dealt with, devices can be erased to military standards and either recycled through an approved onshore e-waste processor or physically shredded. Data is never accessed and all work is carried out within Australia.
Beyond the standard checks above, we offer a full digital-asset practice your firm can call on for more complex estates and for clients putting their affairs in order.
Forensic and search techniques to identify accounts held by a person or entity — under legal names, aliases or nicknames — and to search the web and dark web for references and activity.
Searching devices and files for references to digital assets, then cataloguing holdings, platforms and key details into a documented digital asset inventory.
Because the blockchain is a public record, digital assets are often more traceable than physical ones. We analyse transactions involving cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
Once located, digital assets may be recovered and transferred into the legal possession of the authorised holder, or moved between parties or providers.
Closure of accounts from social media to store logins. A post-mortem arrangement can confidentially remove specified accounts or information in the event a client passes.
Best-endeavours "scrubbing" of a digital footprint, plus secure data destruction — degaussing, erasure and approved onshore e-waste recycling or shredding.
Digital asset discovery, recovery and access services are provided on a best-endeavours basis. There is no guarantee that accounts, assets or data will be located or recovered. Proof of authority and ownership is required before any service is delivered.
Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll advise on the right service.