Do you think of your estate planning? With today’s heavy reliance on digital information and the Internet it is important that when someone is creating an estate plan that they include their digital information as well. By making this valuable information known and available to someone involved with your estate it will ease the burden on the estate’s administrator or family members. Most people already know that an estate plan will handle physical possessions such as a house or investment accounts. But today it really does need to include all of one’s digital information as about 90% of adults in the US use the Internet in one form or another.
Digital information can hold both a monetary value as well as a sentimental one for people. In today’s world people use technology for many different reasons. Many people use on-line accounts to manage bank accounts or brokerage accounts that may be accessed easiest by use of the Internet. Other uses that need to be accounted for are paying of bills and managing one’s affairs. If these accounts are not listed somewhere and accounted for in an estate plan it may make managing your affairs difficult. Passwords, encryption, and privacy laws can make it virtually impossible for someone who is going to manage one’s estate unless steps are taken in advance.
To avoid this it is a good idea to include these items in a will or trust and designate someone as a fiduciary to execute the wishes of the will or trust. This can be done by simply taking an inventory of all of the digital information that will be of use. This means listing all sites that you use along with usernames and passwords. This will aid and speed up the processing of your estate. While it is not a wise idea to make this list part of a will it is a good practice to list where the information may be obtained upon your death. This is mainly done because the contents of a will do become a matter of public record.
Do not forget to list any social media that is used. Some sites allow pages to become memorials and in other instances close family members may simply ask for the pages to be removed. Think ahead and plan your digital estate with the same care as you do your physical one.