Creating an Online Estate Plan
August 2009
After we die, all of our "stuff" is supposed to go to the people we want. If we
establish proper estate planning, our loved ones will receive our assets and
personal belongings.
But what about all the stuff we built and stored online? Will it float around
the Internet, out of the reach of our loved ones because they don't know our
passwords and other log-in credentials?
Our Online Lives
We place more and more of our personal lives online. We sign up for e-bills and
manage bank accounts online to eliminate paper waste. We store e-mails and
e-cards from friends because almost nobody writes actual letters anymore. We
even share photo galleries hosted on sites like Flickr instead of using
old-fashioned print albums.
Digital photos and emails often have little or no monetary value, but their
sentimental value can be worth gold. For example, if you posted an online photo
journal of your mission trip to Cambodia or blogged about your personal battle
against cancer, your loved ones will likely want to maintain your online legacy
after you die.
Sharing Your Digital Keys
When you create a will or a trust, you put together a list of accounts, assets
and important papers. That's good coverage to an extent. But if you fail to
include passwords and other log-in information for financial accounts, personal
profiles and blogs, you're creating a problem down the road.
Without these digital keys, your trustee or personal representative may have to
get a court order to gain access to an account. Then, they must convince the
company running the website to heed to their authority.
Sharing passwords can be tricky. You want to protect your private information
while you're alive, but you want it to be accessible to the right people after
you die.
The process can be further complicated if you become incapacitated. If there is
no power of attorney in place, a guardian or conservator must be appointed to
gain access to your accounts, and that can be expensive.
One solution is to give all current log-in information to a lawyer or a loved
one. Obviously, it is important to update this list each time passwords or
account numbers change. Another option is to store the list in a safety deposit
box or fire-proof safe. Of course, someone other than you will need the keys to
these containers.
On-Line Resources
Sites like LegacyLocker.com can store log-in and password
information for a user's online accounts, and they can make arrangements to send
the information to the appropriate people upon the user's death. They also let a
user write and store letters to send to loved ones.
MyPersonalWishes.com is another useful online storehouse. Account holders are
issued cards with a log-in to access their medical and prescription information,
as well as names of primary physicians and insurance providers. In addition, it
stores copies of a user's Living Will, health care power of attorney,
authorizations for release of medical information (HIPPA), and organ donation
provisions.
(Please note that the on-line resources mentioned above are offered for
information purposes only. We do not endorse the use of these resources and
cannot attest to their reliability.)
Adapted from the Daily Plan-It newsletter. Hoopes,
Adams & Alexander, PLC, is a Chandler, Arizona, law firm offering services to
Phoenix-area clients in the areas of estate planning, entity formation,
commercial and real estate transactions, and civil litigation. |
