Safeguard Your Digital Legacy: A Must-Do for Every Estate Plan

In the digital age, your estate encompasses more than just physical and financial assets. Digital assets, unlike traditional assets, often leave no paper trail. Without explicit instructions in your estate plan, your family may struggle to locate or access these assets. Let’s explore how to seamlessly integrate digital assets into your estate plan.

Inventory Your Digital Assets

Begin by creating a detailed inventory of your digital assets, including:

- Email accounts

- Social media profiles

- Digital collections (photos, videos, music, books)

- Online banking and brokerage accounts

- Rewards programs (credit card points, frequent flyer miles)

For each asset, list website addresses, usernames, passwords, and account numbers. Ensure your instructions cover how to access these assets, especially if they are password-protected or encrypted. Store this information securely and inform a trusted family member or advisor of its location. Consider utilizing a secure online password management system to streamline this process.

Authorize Access

While providing login credentials to your representatives is crucial, it’s not sufficient on its own. Legal consent is necessary for them to manage and access your accounts without violating federal or state data privacy laws. For financial accounts, unauthorized access could even be considered theft or misappropriation. Although prosecution is unlikely, it’s best to avoid legal ambiguities by ensuring your representatives have explicit authority beyond mere possession of login details.

Adhere to Federal Laws

For assets you own, such as bank and investment accounts, your estate plan can facilitate their transfer to heirs. However, many digital assets—like email, social media accounts, and some digital media collections—are licensed rather than owned. These licenses, governed by Terms of Service Agreements (TOSAs), usually expire upon your death and are non-transferable.

Fortunately, most states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which provides a structured approach to managing digital assets posthumously:

1. Priority to Provider Tools**: Platforms like Google and Facebook offer tools for designating account managers post-mortem. Google’s “Inactive Account Manager” and Facebook’s “legacy contact” options are examples.

2. Estate Plan Provisions: If no online tools are used, access defaults to instructions in your will, trust, power of attorney, or other estate planning documents.

3. Default to TOSA: Absent explicit directives in your estate plan, access is governed by the TOSA.

To ensure seamless access to your digital assets, utilize providers’ online tools or incorporate explicit instructions in your estate plan. For tailored advice on managing digital assets within your estate plan, please contact us.