May 3, 2017

There’s plenty of discussion about the benefits of traditional estate planning but you may also need to consider how your digital accounts are included as well. Most people underestimate the number of digital accounts that they truly have. Choosing to inventory these and listing all of the appropriate passwords and username information can make it easier to identify what you want to happen to them after you pass away. 

There’s a good chance that you’ll have different plans for different accounts. For example, you may wish to memorialize your Facebook account but have other accounts closed entirely. If you do not follow the terms of service listed on each individual website, however, your digital executor may face challenges trying to carry out your wishes. Bear in mind that each website might have its own rules requiring your executor to show proof that the action they intend to take is in line with what you wanted to occur.

Getting the proper documentation well in advance by consulting with an estate planning attorney can help you with this. You can also help avoid some of these challenges by backing up your files. Downloading all of the digital assets to an external hard drive, for example, will make it much easier for an executor to access after you pass away. Make sure that every time you add a social media or other digital account that you add this information to your records. Make sure you note accounts that you have set to auto delete after a certain period of inactivity. This will make things much easier when you approach the estate planning process.