Category Archives: Digital Assets

Are your digital assets in your estate plan?

Much of our life lives online these days. Email is just the beginning. Do you have a Facebook account? What about PayPal? How about an online bank account?

If you don’t include information about those digital assets in your estate plan, your family may have a terrible problem trying to access and deal with your online accounts. First of all, they will have to figure out what they are and then they will need to find a way to access them.

If your executor can’t track down your accounts, your estate may be at risk for fraud. For example, your Amazon account is probably hooked up to a credit card. If the account isn’t closed after your death, someone may hack it and make purchases which will have to be paid for by your estate.

Putting your digital assets in your estate plan is not a very simple matter. Each of the accounts you hold is governed by a terms of service agreement. You must have clicked on it when you opened the account. The agreement may limit access to the account to just you. To complicate things further, your family member will need your password for access. But it may be illegal for them to use that password. After your death, they will have to show that they have a right to access the account…but may still be unable legally to do so.

22 states have already enacted laws to help clarify how online accounts of the deceased can be accessed and managed. These laws are based on the revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act – UFADAA. And several more have introduced bills into their legislature.

There are some restrictions that are intended to protect the privacy of the deceased. For example, an executor can manage the digital property but may not be allowed to read the contents of email messages.

There are three parts to the revised UFADAA act:

1) If a service provider offers an online way for the user to state post-death wishes, the account owner’s use of that path determines what happens to the account. An example is Google’s Inactive Account Manager.

2) If there is no way provided after the account owner’s death or the account owner doesn’t use any tool available, the account owner’s directions in a will or other legal document will stand.

3) If the first two parts do not apply, the terms of service agreement that was clicked on when the account was open will determine how the digital assets are handled.

Other things you can do to be prepared are:

1) Create a list of your electronic accounts and include your log on IDs and passwords.

2) Use a password manager tool such as LastPass and share the information with your executor.

3) Think about putting all of your estate documents into an online vault like Dropbox or Everplans.

4) Put your digital asset plan into your estate documents. The more specific you can be, the better.

5) Think about writing a statement of intent in general that can apply to all of your accounts, even ones you may have forgotten about when writing your list in #1.

6) Decide and spell out clearly what information you want your executor to have access to. Do you want her to read all of your emails? You might want to limit what she can see.

7) Pick your executor carefully and make sure that person is at least somewhat tech savvy.

For more information about digital assets and estate planning, check out our website http://www.diesmart.com.

Seen a digital assets & legacy infographic?

We came across a very easy to read and understand infographic. It provides important information about estate and digital asset planning. Although the data is based on a survey done in the United Kingdom, the figures are probably very similar to what would be found if the same survey were done in the United States.

In light of the digital all-encompassing digital world in which we live, it’s especially amazing that almost 75% of people believe that it’s important to be able to view a loved one’s social media presence after their death. Yet less than 5% of those people have used the Facebook and Google tools available to enable this to happen.

Less than 10% of people have made any plans for their social media accounts to remain active after they die and only 3% have made any plans for purchased digital assets.

Only about half of the people queried have shared with anyone the password for their mobile phone or computer.

Digital planning is a critical part of putting your estate plan in place prior to your death. Otherwise, your wishes may not be carried out and, even more importantly, your heirs may not be able to access your online assets. Since no one knows when he or she is going to die, it’s important for everyone to take the necessary steps and put together a legal estate plan now.

For more information about digital estate planning, go to www.diesmart.com or purchase our book ACCESS DENIED: Why your passwords are now just as important as your will.

You’re dead…so what happens to your Bitcoins?

There’s been a BitCoin lot of discussion about digital assets and what happens to your bitcoin accounts when you die. When we checked a while ago, we were told that after a certain period of inactivity, your Bitcoin account will disappear and the money you have in it will be gone forever. If you haven’t given your login, password and digital key information to the person(s) you’d like to inherit the money, they cannot access your Bitcoin wallet and they’re out of luck.
Recently, a few companies have tried to address this important issue. One we came across is Bitcoin Estate Plan. Their premise is simple. They automatically deliver bitcoin wallet access instructions to your heirs upon your death or incapacitation. This is accomplished through email, phone and/or a written letter via the postal service. You tell them who you want them to contact and the message you want them to send.
The company “will then email or phone you periodically to confirm that you are still alive. If you do not respond after a specified number of attempts the system will deliver your message to your intended recipient(s) by email, snail mail or phone depending upon which service plan you choose.”
It would be cheaper for you to share the necessary information with your heirs prior to your death. However, if you do, they will have the ability to access your funds at any time. A better option to consider might be a company like Bitcoin Estate Plan. That way, your money won’t disappear when you do.

For more information about digital assets and how to protect them, read our book “Access Denied: Your Digital Estate – Why Passwords Are Now as Important as Passwords”. It’s available at Amazon. Also, check out our website www.diesmart.com.

What Happens To Your Yahoo Japan Digital Assets When You Die?

On Monday, Yahoo Japan announced “Yahoo! Ending”, a program designed to help Yahoo Japan users plan for their death. The search engine, in partnership with funeral services company Kamakura Shinsho, helps Yahoo Japan users make a will, find a grave, and plan their funeral. Once Yahoo Japan confirms the user has died, the service will set up a memorial site, send out digital farewell messages, and delete personal data from Yahoo’s on line system. In the future, Yahoo Ending could be expanded to work with credit card, insurance and other companies to manage a wider scope of personal data left behind when users pass away.

Yahoo Ending answers the question “what happens to your Yahoo Japan digital assets when you die”. Once Yahoo Japan receives proof of death, Yahoo Japan assumes it has the legal authority to delete digital assets created and stored on Yahoo Japan.

In the United States, Yahoo digital assets are in fact part of the estate of the deceased. Before we created our digital life, we stored photos and art in an album or a picture frame. Our emails and text messages were paper letters and notes stored in a file cabinet. When someone dies, the estate representative is required by law to take an inventory of property owned by the deceased and assign a value to the property, including their digital assets. The estate representative is then required by law to dispose of property the deceased owned based on instructions left in a will or a trust, or state intestate laws if the decedent died without a will or a trust. In today’s paper world, estate representatives or beneficiaries must provide documents providing they are managing the assets according to the wishes of the deceased. In a paper world, proof of death does not trigger the automatic deletion or destruction of property owned by the decedent.

The question “what happens to our digital assets” continues to be the subject of legal debate as the internet service providers and the legal infrastructure grapple with the rules and processes for managing and disposing of digital assets that are in fact part of our estate.

We need programs and policies that don’t just deal with the death of the account owner, but also provide a way for trustees and conservators to manage our digital assets in the case of incapacity.

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