If you’ve already started planning for what will happen to your assets after you’ve passed away, you’ve definitely made a wise decision. However, many Tennessee residents forget that the majority of their business and personal finances are conducted electronically in today’s modern world.
If you’re among the many people who own digital assets, it’s important to make it possible for your loved ones to access your accounts. Read on to learn how to deal with estate planning for the digital era.
What are digital assets?
Digital assets could have monetary value, such as bitcoin, online investments or bank accounts, and domain names. Some of your digital assets may not have a monetary value, but ensuring that your loved ones have access to them might be important. Examples of these digital assets might include:
- Social media accounts
- Digital photos and videos
- Blog content
- Genealogy information
How can you protect your digital assets through an estate plan?
Digital estate planning involves organizing all of your digital assets and making formal arrangements about what should happen to that property upon your death. When creating a digital estate plan, you should think about items like your computer, external hard drive, smart phone, tablet and digital camera.
After you’ve made a list of your digital assets, write down your login details and passwords so family members will have access to them. If you store data in the cloud, back it up on your laptop or external storage device. Just make sure that you provide instructions to the executor of your will about how to access your laptop.
Who can you contact for help?
Since digital estate planning is a relatively new area of law, it can be difficult to make sure you have everything in order on your own. Consider speaking to an experienced estate planning attorney who may be able to help you develop a customized plan.
