How India’s digilocker and an Indian legacy planning platform are solving the same global challenge but from different angles.
What Happens to Your Documents After You’re no longer around?
It’s a question that rarely gets the attention it deserves. We prepare for life’s milestones: education, careers, homes, and retirement, but when it comes to what happens after we’re no longer around, many of us shy away. Understandably so.
But change is in the air. India is witnessing a subtle but significant transformation in how people approach legacy planning, especially in the digital age. A key player in this shift is DigiLocker, the government-backed app known for safely storing official documents. Recently, it took a major leap forward. Beginning April 1, 2025, DigiLocker will allow users to store mutual fund and demat account statements, and more importantly, ensure nominees can access these financial documents when needed, without jumping through legal hoops.
At first glance, it may seem like just another update. But in truth, this move positions DigiLocker as a player in the larger arena of digital inheritance.
At the same time, the private platform Mitt Arv is shifting the focus of legacy, making it about more than money by helping people leave behind clarity, guidance, and peace of mind for their loved ones. Though operating from different corners, one public and one private, DigiLocker and Mitt Arv are converging on the same mission: helping people plan for a future they won’t be part of.
DigiLocker’s Evolution: From Convenience to Continuity
For years, DigiLocker has been a digital utility that provides centralized access to personal identification documents, such as your Aadhaar card, driver’s license, PAN card, academic certificates, and more. It brought convenience, efficiency, and paperless access to the masses. But the latest partnership with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) marks a paradigm shift.
Here’s what’s new in DigiLocker:
- Financial Document Integration: Users can now store and access statements related to mutual funds and demat accounts.
- Nominee Support: You can assign nominees who will have authorized access to these documents after your death.
- Streamlined Succession: Reduces delays and disputes during asset transfer.
According to SEBI’s official release, this step is intended to “reduce unclaimed assets and ease the process of asset transfer for nominees.” Over $15 billion worth of financial assets remain unclaimed in India, often because families are unaware of where to look or even what exists.
This new feature turns DigiLocker from just storage into a tool for managing inheritance, providing structured digital succession planning at least for certain financial assets.
But DigiLocker Has Its Limits…
Despite this progress, DigiLocker isn’t designed to handle the full complexity of a person’s legacy. It’s an excellent starting point for financial and identity documents, but what about:
- Your will and testament?
- Property deeds and real estate papers?
- That letter you always meant to write to your children, to be opened when you’re no longer around?
This is where public infrastructure ends and private solutions begin.
Mitt Arv: A Vault for More Than Just Money
Mitt Arv, meaning “My Legacy” in Swedish, is a comprehensive platform designed to provide a secure and comprehensive approach to end-of-life planning. It’s more than just digital document storage. It’s an emotional, legal, and practical toolkit for families dealing with the aftermath of loss.
At its core, Mitt Arv helps users:
- Consolidate all assets and information: from property to investments mitt arv has got you covered
- Control access: Decide who gets access to which documents, and when.
- Create an Emotional Will: personal messages, voice notes, or letters for loved ones, meant to bring peace and clarity during difficult times.
The platform is built on the belief that your legacy is more than your net worth. It’s also your values, memories, and intentions, which deserve to be passed on with care and structure.
One user put it perfectly:
“It’s the kindest thing you can do for your family, leave them with clarity, not chaos.”
Two Platforms, One Shared Mission
DigiLocker and Mitt Arv may be worlds apart, but they’re both solving the same problem:
Ensuring your important information is safe, organized, and ready when needed most.
Let’s break it down:
Why This Matters For You, and For the Ones You Love
Legacy planning has traditionally been a topic associated with the wealthy or elderly. But in today’s digital world, it’s a matter that concerns everyone, from young professionals with investments and insurance to parents who want to leave behind meaningful messages for their children.
And yet, most people don’t realize how confusing and emotionally taxing it can be. To deal with someone’s affairs after their passing until they experience it firsthand.
Without a system:
- Families struggle to find documents.
- Investments are left unclaimed.
- Properties get tied up in court.
- Loved ones are left with more questions than answers.
With platforms like DigiLocker and Mitt Arv, you can prevent that from happening.
You can:
- Ensure your financial records are accessible and actionable.
- Organize and store legal paperwork in one place.
- Leave personal messages that bring comfort, not just instructions.
- Spare your family the confusion and conflict that often follows a sudden loss.
Ultimately, these platforms offer something deeper than utility. They provide peace of mind.
What’s Next for Digital Legacy in India?
The launch of DigiLocker’s new capabilities is a signal that India is waking up to the importance of digital continuity after death. As more financial instruments, legal frameworks, and cultural attitudes align with this idea, platforms like Mitt Arv are well-positioned to fill the remaining gaps.
This is not just about innovation but about responsibility.
It’s about asking: How do you want to be remembered?
Not just in photos or stories, but in the order you leave behind. In the access you provide. In the time and pain you save your loved ones.
Final Thoughts
In the end, your legacy isn’t just what you leave behind, it’s how you leave it.
It’s in the small things your loved ones will reach for when you’re not around: the clarity of your instructions, the comfort of your words, the ease with which they can carry out your wishes.
In moments of grief, even the most basic questions Where are the documents? Who has access? What were their dreams for us ? can feel overwhelming. That’s why what you put in place today isn’t just paperwork or planning. It’s a gift. A quiet act of care that says, “I thought of you. I wanted to make this easier for you.”
With DigiLocker stepping up as a government-led tool for accessing important financial records, and Mitt Arv offering a more intimate, customizable space for everything else from your property papers to your final messages, we now have the means to leave more than a legacy. We can leave clarity, direction, and peace.
And that matters.
Because the truth is, planning your digital afterlife isn’t about being morbid, it’s about being mindful. It’s about recognizing that the people we love will one day have to navigate life without us, and giving them a map so they don’t feel lost.
So if you’re reading this and haven’t started yet, take a moment.
Start small. Make a list. Name a nominee. Write a letter you’ve always meant to write.
Because tomorrow is never promised but today, you have the power to prepare.
And that might just be one of the most loving things you ever do.
