Digital assets are an inevitable part of life in the 21st century. Financial services platforms, cloud storage, your music and movie collection, social media and email accounts. Those all belong to you. But what happens to them after you die or if you were to become incapacitated?

The accessibility - and thereby, the future - of your accounts is dictated by several factors: your service agreements, state and federal laws, and the terms you set out in your estate plan. However, there are steps you can take to protect your assets in your estate plan and ensure they’re handled correctly.

Pass the passwords, please

Want to make things easy on your beneficiaries? Make sure that your family, your executor, or your trustee can get to your digital assets in your absence. The easiest way to accomplish this is to have a list of all your accounts and your passwords. There are several ways to do this, from a simple list kept in a safe deposit box to a virtual password storage software like LastPass. The latter is an effective approach, making it easy to manage your passwords and access to them during your lifetime. 

Another option is digital estate planning services. These services act as a repository for your digital assets and facilitate their distribution to a designated beneficiary in the event of your death or incapacitation.

Familiarize yourself with the law

While it’s important to make sure your representative has your login information, you need to address your digital assets within your estate plan as well. Why? Third parties, even with your account login information, may not be authorized users of your account. If they access them, they may well be in violation of state or federal privacy laws. 

Moreover, some states do have specific laws that address digital asset access. One example is the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA). This regulation sets forth rules on how digital assets can be accessed by executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries. If those rules run counter to your goals, make sure to modify your estate plan accordingly.

Under the UFADAA, individuals can arrange the disposition of their digital assets from within the settings created by their account provider. A good example is Facebook, which allowers users to either have their account deleted or memorialized if they pass on. If you want a memorial page, you can choose a “legacy contact” to manage it.

The UFADAA provides for setting forth rules within wills as well, trusts, or powers of attorney. In absence of guidance, though, the act reverts control over the account to service provider and their default rules.  

Take stock of what you have

It’s common for people to have a wide range of digital assets. They can be hard to keep track of over time. Make it easier by taking inventory of your accounts now. Once you know what you have, then it’s easier to determine a path forward. 

If you need help in finding the right approach for you and your digital estate, we’d be happy to help. Contact Smolin Lupin today to set up a consultation to discuss your options.