We live in a modern, digital world where a large portion of our lives take place online. With this in mind, it is important to remember your digital assets when organizing your end of life plans. Instead of leaving a digital mess for your family or friends to clean up, consider some of the many things you can do before you are gone to make your loved one’s lives easier.
The first thing you should do is to take an inventory of your digital assets. Find out what all your digital assets are, including social media accounts, email accounts, cloud accounts, etc. and make note of how you access them. This is a crucial first step to then deciding who can take care of your digital assets once you have passed away.
The next step you can take is to name a digital executor. This is a person that you choose to handle any disputes over your digital technology once you have passed away. Your digital executor could be the same person you have chosen to be the executor of your other assets. Or, you could choose somebody completely different if you have another person in mind. You may specifically want to pick someone who you know would be capable of handling and making sense of all of your digital assets.
Another step you can take is to name a digital heir. If you already have an idea of who you want to receive certain assets, such as photos and videos or access to your email and social media accounts, you can add that into your Will. You may even have the ability to designate your heir in certain digital accounts. Looking into these options can help make the transfer of your digital assets easier on your loved ones.
You should also plan for how you are going to pass on your passwords. For many, setting up a password manager can be a helpful tool for organizing and easily transferring all of your passwords to specific parties after your death. However, it is also important to remember to include access to any multi-factor authentication apps and/or code generators alongside the appropriate passwords. Without the correct login information your loved ones could experience large headaches by getting inadvertently locked out of important accounts.
If you would like help planning what else you should be doing with your digital assets, or to learn more about our other estate planning services, contact Horn & Johnsen today: https://hornjohnsen.com/contact-us/
