Your Digital Legacy: A Modern Must for Estate Planning

Think about your day so far: everything you’ve done and accessed using your smartphone, computer or other cloud-based tech. Your online accounts are protected by passcodes, biometrics, security questions and firewalls so that only you can access them. But if something happens to you, that can be a problem.

Because only you can access them.

What will happen to those photos you took of your grandchild’s birth? The doorbell cam video when she arrived home for the first time? The touching responses to the email announcement you sent out? The airline miles you were going to use to go visit?

Will they be lost forever?

You might feel silly talking to an estate planning attorney about your Facebook account. But you shouldn’t. In the digital age, the question of how to handle all the elements of your online life is so important that almost all states now have a uniform law on the books that gives people the power to plan for the disposition of their digital property.

THE PIECES OF YOUR DIGITAL LEGACY

This kind of property can take two forms.

PERSONAL AND SENTIMENTAL ASSETS

These might not have value to anyone but you and your loved ones. But there’s no question, they’re important. They increasingly make up the record of your life and your time with family and friends. In that way, they can have value far beyond possessions.

But without proactive planning, these could be locked away behind passwords, security questions and firewalls (or maybe even deleted) forever:

• Social media accounts
• Personal photographs stored online or on secure devices
• Information or documents stored in the cloud
• Email accounts
• Household or personal subscription accounts
• Your online music collection

ASSETS WITH MONETARY VALUE

Some pieces of your digital legacy can still be accessed through more manual, less convenient methods, even without digital access. But some exist only in cyberspace. Your loved ones may not know some of these assets exist at all. Without appropriate planning, it will be very difficult to get to them.

• Online bank, investment and retirement accounts
• Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets like NFTs
• Credit card rewards, airline miles or other loyalty programs
• Income-generating intellectual property (websites and domain names, blogs, media)

LEGAL PLANNING FOR YOUR DIGITAL LEGACY

State law, your estate planning documents and a provider’s terms of service can all impact how your representative (power of attorney, executor and/or successor trustee) is able to access the pieces of your digital legacy.

Estate attorneys can include digital property clauses within estate documents (such as a will, revocable trust and power of attorney), so your representative can access your digital “stuff” in the event of your death or incapacity.

Your estate attorney should be familiar with estate planning for a digital legacy. If you don’t have one, we can provide you with a list of estate attorneys in your area.

MAKE IT EASY ON YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Including a digital property clause in your estate planning documents is just the first step.

You’ll need to compile everything you can think of that your representative might need or want to access. Use the lists above as a starting point.

When it’s time, your representative will need to contact each service provider.

There’s one other way you may be able to make the process easier – designate legacy contacts with providers that offer it (not all do), so the transition will be seamless. Here are a few of the major ones.

APPLE IPHONE LEGACY CONTACT

Apple allows you to name a Legacy Contact who can access your Apple account and its contents, including photos, messages and notes. Set this up in your Apple device or system settings under Apple Account > Sign-in & Security > Legacy Contact. This will generate an access key that your chosen contact will need in order to access your account.

FACEBOOK LEGACY CONTACT

Facebook lets you designate someone to manage your account after death. They’ll be able to:

• Manage tribute posts
• Accept new friend requests
• Update your profile picture and cover photo

You can also choose to have your account deleted after death. To set either option up, go to Settings & privacy > Accounts Center > Personal details > Account ownership and control > Memorialization.

GOOGLE INACTIVE ACCOUNT MANAGER

Google will allow you to automatically grant access to trusted contacts if your accounts are inactive for a period of time that you designate. Some of the platforms that fall under Google Inactive Account Manager are:

• Google Drive
• Gmail
• YouTube

To choose trusted contacts and designate what you want to share and when, go to your Google account under Data & privacy > More options and choose Make a plan for your digital legacy. You can choose who will have access to download your data and also whether to have your account automatically deleted after your account has been inactive for your chosen period of time.

LEAVE A LEGACY OF CHERISHED MEMORIES

Having a window into your digital life can bring comfort to loved ones after you pass. It may also be the only way to ensure they can take care of your final affairs or arrange for the continuity of certain family needs after you're gone. And it can be critical from a financial perspective as well, especially if you own crypto or other financial assets that exist only in the ether.

Talk to your financial advisor and estate planning attorney to ensure your digital legacy is properly documented, accessible and aligned with your overall estate plan.