Digital transformation has changed the way people store, manage, and acquire wealth. If inheritance used to be associated with physical assets such as land, buildings, vehicles, or bank accounts, today a person’s wealth map has shifted into the digital realm, ranging from crypto assets to social media accounts that generate income.
This shift brings significant legal consequences, especially when the owner of such assets dies and the heirs must fight for rights over wealth that is intangible.
Two Sides of Digital Wealth
Broadly speaking, digital wealth can currently be divided into two categories. First, digital economic assets, which include digital financial assets such as crypto assets, e-wallets, marketplace accounts, monetized social media accounts, website domains, cloud storage, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and economic rights over digital content.
Second, non-economic digital assets, which include email accounts, personal social media accounts, electronic documents, digital photos and videos, cloud storage data, and electronic communication records.
The first category is the one that most often gives rise to disputes, because its value is financially real but the mechanism for inheritance has not yet been clearly regulated.
The Emergence of New Legal Issues
The development of this form of wealth has created new legal issues, especially regarding certainty over the continuity of access, control, and transfer of rights over digital assets after the owner’s death. This issue is becoming even more complex in line with the rapid development of Aset Keuangan Digital & Aset Kripto (“AKD/AK”) in Indonesia.
On the one hand, AKD/AK have been officially recognized by the Government as a form of wealth with economic value. On the other hand, such recognition has not been matched by legal rules that explicitly regulate inheritance mechanisms, creating real legal uncertainty for heirs.
Challenges in the Digital Era
The issue of the status of digital assets as objects of inheritance is now a major focus. Although they have clear economic value, the absence of specific regulations on digital inheritance procedures creates a gap that risks triggering disputes in the future.
This highlights the importance of adaptive rules that keep pace with the times. Regulatory reform is needed to ensure that heirs’ rights remain protected, even though the property left behind is no longer physical, but stored in a complex digital ecosystem.
Can AKD/AK Become Inheritance Objects?
From a civil law perspective, inheritance objects essentially include all rights and obligations that can be valued in money and do not cease upon death. The issue is that the Civil Code (KUHPerdata), the Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI), and other laws and regulations do not explicitly mention AKD/AK as inheritance objects.
However, conceptually, assets that have economic value and can be lawfully owned meet the characteristics of intangible property that can be inherited.
Since the enactment of Law No. 4 of 2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (“UU P2SK”), the legal status of AKD/AK in Indonesia has become clearer. Regulation and supervision now fall under the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), with trading conducted through an ecosystem consisting of a AKD/AK Exchange, Clearing and Settlement Guarantee Institution, Storage Place Operator, and Traders (Exchangers).
Although the UU P2SK and OJK Regulation No. 27 of 2024 on the Conduct of Trading in AKD/AK (“POJK 27/2024”) do not specifically regulate inheritance mechanisms, the existence of these regulations strengthens the legal standing of AKD/AK as part of lawful wealth. Thus, as long as ownership can be proven, in principle there is no reason to exclude AKD/AK from the decedent’s estate (boedel waris).
This recognition does not automatically answer how rights to such assets are transferred to heirs. It is precisely at this point that the real legal challenge begins.
Four Main Legal Issues in Digital Inheritance
1. The Absence of an Inheritance Mechanism in the AKD/AK Ecosystem
Unlike conventional assets, the transfer of AKD/AK to heirs does not depend solely on proof of heir status, but also on the mechanism applied by the organizer where the assets are traded or stored.
Within the AKD/AK ecosystem under OJK supervision, there is currently no provision specifically regulating the inheritance mechanism for AKD/AK. POJK 27/2024 governs the governance of organizers, but it does not regulate procedures for transferring AKD/AK to heirs, including verification mechanisms, required documents, or the division of authority among organizers in processing such requests.
As a result, the transfer process of AKD/AK to heirs may be carried out through different mechanisms by each exchanger. In certain circumstances, heirs may also face administrative processes involving more than one party in the trading ecosystem, or even have to file a complaint with OJK if their request is not resolved.
2. Inheritance of AKD/AK Stored in Self-Custody or on Foreign Platforms
The problem becomes more complex if AKD/AK are not stored through an Exchanger within the OJK ecosystem, but instead use a self-custody wallet or are traded through a foreign platform. In this situation, access to the assets depends entirely on control of the private key or seed phrase known only to the asset owner.
Unlike assets stored through licensed organizers, there is no party that can verify heir status or facilitate asset transfer. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology also means there is no authority that can open access or restore ownership if the private key or seed phrase is unavailable.
As a result, even though heirs may prove their rights under inheritance law, control over AKD/AK in practice may become impossible if access information was never passed on by the asset owner. This condition shows that the challenge of inheriting AKD/AK does not arise solely from regulatory gaps, but also from the technological characteristics underlying the assets
3. The Risk of Disputes Between Heirs and Organizers
The absence of a AKD/AK inheritance mechanism may lead to disputes between heirs and organizers. On the one hand, heirs have the right to obtain the decedent’s estate under inheritance law. On the other hand, organizers also have an obligation to protect asset security and user data confidentiality in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
In practice, this may raise various issues, such as the sufficiency of documents that heirs must submit, the authority of AKD/AK organizers to transfer ownership of AKD/AK, or the rejection of requests because there is no legal basis or internal procedure governing the inheritance mechanism.
Although OJK Regulation No. 22 of 2023 on Consumer and Public Protection in the Financial Services Sector (“POJK 22/2023”) sets out consumer protection principles, there is currently no provision specifically regulating the balance between protecting heirs’ rights and the obligation of AKD/AK organizers to maintain account security and user confidentiality. This regulatory gap may create legal uncertainty for all parties involved.
4. The Urgency of Digital Estate Planning and the Role of Legal Advisors
In the absence of a specific inheritance mechanism for AKD/AK, asset owners need to begin including digital assets as part of estate planning. This can be done by identifying all digital assets owned, documenting asset ownership, and ensuring that information about the existence of the assets and how to access them can be passed on to the rightful parties in a secure manner and in accordance with applicable law.
Digital estate planning is not only intended to ensure that assets can be transferred to heirs, but also to minimize the potential for disputes and administrative obstacles that may arise after the owner’s death. This is becoming increasingly important given the distinct characteristics of AKD/AK compared with conventional assets, both in terms of technology and control mechanisms.
Since the enactment of Law No. 4 of 2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (“UU P2SK”), the legal status of AKD/AK in Indonesia has become clearer. Regulation and supervision of AKD/AK now fall under the authority of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), with trading carried out through an ecosystem consisting of a AKD/AK Exchange, a Clearing and Settlement Guarantee Institution, a Storage Place Operator, and Traders (Exchangers).
Under Indonesia’s current inheritance law framework, there are three legal systems that may be applied concurrently, depending on the legal background of the decedent. First, civil inheritance law derived from the Civil Code (“KUHPerdata”), specifically Book II, Chapters XII through XVIII, which governs the transfer of assets to heirs both by operation of law (ab intestato) and by will (testamentary). Under this system, all rights and obligations that can be valued in monetary terms and are not extinguished by death—including, in principle, AKD/AK as intangible assets of economic value—form part of the estate (boedel waris) that passes to the heirs by operation of law upon the decedent’s death, as provided for in Article 833 of the Civil Code. Second, Islamic inheritance law, which applies to Muslims and is codified through Presidential Instruction No. 1 of 1991 on the Compilation of Islamic Law (“KHI”), specifically Book II on Inheritance Law. The KHI governs the distribution of inherited assets based on the principle of faraid, including provisions regarding heirs, the respective shares of each heir, wills, and gifts. Third, customary inheritance law, which to this day is still recognized and applied in various customary law communities in Indonesia based on case law and the state’s recognition of the rights of customary law communities.
Closing: What Direction Will Regulation Take Next?
The development of AKD/AK shows that people’s wealth continues to evolve in line with technological progress. Although, in principle, AKD/AK can be positioned as part of inheritable estate, there is still no specific regulation governing the mechanism of transfer to heirs.
Going forward, regulatory development needs to accommodate the inheritance mechanism for AKD/AK more comprehensively, including procedures for verifying heirs, mechanisms for transferring rights, and the role and obligations of organizers in processing inheritance requests. In this way, recognition of AKD/AK as an object of wealth will not only provide certainty over ownership, but also ensure protection of heirs’ rights when inheritance takes place.
For individuals and businesses with significant digital asset portfolios, early consultation with legal advisors who understand the intersection between conventional inheritance law and technological developments is an important step to ensure that digital wealth can pass to heirs lawfully and without unnecessary obstacles.
Legal Basis
- 1. Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Perdata (KUHPerdata), Buku II tentang Benda dan Pewarisan.
- Instruksi Presiden Nomor 1 Tahun 1991 tentang Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI).
- Undang-Undang Nomor 27 Tahun 2022 tentang Perlindungan Data Pribadi (UU PDP).
- Undang-Undang Nomor 4 Tahun 2023 tentang Pengembangan dan Penguatan Sektor Keuangan (UU P2SK). Perubahan atas Undang-Undang Nomor 4 Tahun 2023 tentang Pengembangan dan Penguatan Sektor Keuangan
- Peraturan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (POJK) Nomor 27 Tahun 2024 tentang Penyelenggaraan Perdagangan Aset Keuangan Digital dan Aset Kripto. Perubahan atas Peraturan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan Nomor 27 Tahun 2024 tentang Penyelenggaraan Perdagangan Aset Keuangan Digital Termasuk Aset Kripto
- Peraturan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (POJK) Nomor 22 Tahun 2023 tentang Perlindungan Konsumen dan Masyarakat di Sektor Jasa Keuangan.
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Contributor : Farah Nadira, Rewidan M Haikal, M Althafariq R