Tips for Deciding What to Do With Your Digital Assets

We are living much more of our lives in the digital world than ever before. This means by the time you die, you will have likely amassed a collection of digital assets. Like other types of assets, you can control what happens to them with your estate plan.

If you care about these digital assets, it is important you leave instructions as they could otherwise vanish without succession plans. Here are some tips to consider.

• Have an inventory: Before you can take any other action, you need to develop an inventory of the digital assets you care about. This should include email accounts, social media, file sharing accounts, gaming accounts, streaming services, books, domains or online businesses, rewards points, shopping services, virtual currency or any other types of online accounts.
• Determine heirs: Figure out who you want to inherit your digital assets that can be passed down. There are some assets that by contract might not be “inherited” but may need to be closed or managed. Certain companies (such as Facebook) allow you to name a person to handle your account upon your death, and may allow you to close or deactivate those accounts.
• Have a tech-savvy person in charge: You may wish to have your personal representative handle your digital affairs, but if they’re not particularly tech-savvy it could be a good idea to have someone specifically tasked with administering your digital estate. Make sure to leave behind access information for this person.
• Regularly review: Technology upgrades quickly, which could upend some of your plans. In addition, the digital accounts you use now might not be ones you’re using 10, 20 years from now.

For more information about managing your digital assets as part of your estate plan, contact an experienced Tampa, FL estate planning lawyer at BaumannKangas Estate Law.