February 11, 2019

When you’re making a comprehensive plan for your estate property, don’t forget all of the materials you have stored online, such as digital files, your social networking identities and access details, your accounts and your blogs.

While you may not be able to line item each of these items through your will, you may still want to consider what will happen to them in the future. Here are some of the most important questions you need to consider in the process of evaluating your digital legacy:

• Do you want your Facebook profile to be put into memorial status, left alone or deleted?
• Do you want someone to make any final entries on your blog to notify individuals of the future of the site?
• Do you want someone to have access to your email accounts after you pass away?
• What should happen to the future of your domain names?
• Do you have any online communities, such as a Facebook group that should be notified about your passing away?

Many people overlook these aspects in the process of estate planning, but as things in the world have become increasingly digitized, it is extremely important that you do everything you can to discuss your options with the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer.

If you want your survivors to be able to log into your online accounts as users, make sure that your final instructions left behind include login names and passwords. Your estate representative may be able to have limited access to your account, then this can be helpful if you choose not to leave login information.