Don't Leave Your Family a Digital Headache

As a family, we possess a number of boxes stored in our home with physical photographs. With these moments captured on paper, they are incredibly valuable to us. The number of pictures in boxes and albums pale in comparison to those on a drive, phone, memory card, or other digital device. When I am gone, I want to be sure those people precious to me do not lose access to the shared memories they most cherished of us together.

This is just one small, but important element of my digital estate, my digital assets.

If you pass away unexpectedly, would your family know what to do with your digital property? This may leave many of you thinking what is a digital property. How do I catalogue this asset and where do I start?

Your digital estate is everything from family photos, social media accounts, online banking and investment accounts, to any bills you pay electronically, and more.

This area of planning is still very new and overlooked, but the steps to create a plan are clear:

1. Make a list of your digital assets and how to access them.  

• Physical Technology assets: Computers, phones, tablets, external hard drives, flash drives, etc.
• Online accounts: Media/Document Storage, Shopping, Social Media, Gaming, email account(s), Crypto Wallets, subscriptions, memberships, etc.
• Intellectual property: owned domains, written code, blog/podcast websites you manage, along with any of their digital assets. 

2. Determine and write a plan for what you want to do with each asset.

Do you want the account closed, the asset transferred to a family member or business associate, or sold if it has monetary value? Do you need to provide any special instructions for a final tribute or post for an audience of friends or followers? 

3. Appoint a Digital Executor

A digital executor may be separate from the executor handling the bulk of the responsibilities in your regular Living Will. You may not want to add the additional work to the same person. Consider appointing someone who is tech savvy. Remember to include this person in a durable power of attorney, in case of your incapacity.

4. If possible, put your expressed wishes in a plan as a legally binding document.

Keep in mind some states are still behind in officially recognizing Digital Estate Plans. Keep copies of the plan in a safe place and let your executor know the location. It might be sensible for this part of your plan stay completely separate from your will, in order to keep it out of the public domain. Reference your digital plan in your will as necessary, but keep the details (accounts, passwords, etc.) private. Keeping this separate allows you to update your digital plan over time without formally changing your will.

Taking the time to walk through these steps now, and then working with an attorney to create a formal document, will assure your wishes are carried out and provide invaluable peace of mind to your family at a critical time. If you take the time to get your own digital estate in order now, you will possess the knowledge to step in and help if someone around you passes away.

Sources:

How To Close Online Accounts And Services When Someone Dies | Everplans – direct links to 230 digital services and their specific instructions for closing an account.

UFADAA - Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Revised - Uniform Law Commission (uniformlaws.org)

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