it's your legacy... Entrustet HIWI Blog

“I think it’s great that Oklahoma law makers recognize that access to social networking profiles of the deceased is a valid estate administration issue.  Just like everything else a person leaves behind, photos, mementos, tangible personal property, a person’s social networking profile is something that should be administered according to the wishes of the deceased person.

The law encourages people to think about what they would want, whether for the profile to continue, be edited or deleted.  A law allowing access would only serve to streamline the administration process of each account.”

–Lisa Nguyen, Attorney At Law

Proviso Law Group
1600 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 400
Manhattan Beach, CA  90266
Phone  310.248.3966
Fax     310.469.0125
www.provisolaw.com

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“I believe that the new social networking law is forward-thinking, and coordinates with the main estate planning goal of closing out the estate in the decedent’s best interests. Social networking firms insisting on full ownership of user-account amounts to them freely taking clients’ intellectual property rights without negotiation when the account is established. That feels like a”contract of adhesion”, or a standard form contract presented on a take it or leave it basis, which is probably unenforceable because those who signed up really had no idea what they were giving up.”

–Scott R. Zucker, Esq.
The Zucker Law Firm, PLLC
3809 Whitman Road
Annandale, VA 22003
Phone: (703) 280-9280
estateplanninginfoblog.com

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“Technically, all of a person’s personal authority is turned over to the executor of their estate when they die. In most cases (governed by law in each jurisdiction and case law), that authorizes them to execute the terms of the decedent’s will, as well as act on behalf of the estate in matters not directly covered within the will. While many subscriber agreements for web sites keep the site as “owner,” the subscriber maintains authority for what is on the site as long as it conforms with the terms of service. That would mean that unless there is a “death clause” in the subscriber agreement, the executor would have the authority, on behalf of the decedent’s estate, to access the web site and either delete it or make suitable changes. Of course, this is an issue of first impression for me, so this is just my opinion without having done any research.”

–Eric E. Shore, DO, JD, MBA

KANE, SHORE & WITCHER, LLC
Attorneys at Law
1616 Walnut Street, Fifth Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Telephone: (215) 259-3786
Fax: (215) 402-1030
Email: EShore@KaneShore.com

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The goal of the law is noble – to allow the heirs of the decedent to obtain the decedent’s photos and other info on Facebook once the decedent passes away.  Often times a decedent can have photos on Facebook (many that they did not upload) and those can be valuable to their loved ones when they die.

However, this law may have much broader results.  Generally, the user agreement with facebook (or other sites) defines the relationship between the site and the user.  So, if the agreement provides that the info is the property of facebook (or whatever site), this law directly contradicts that agreement.  Generally, statutes take precedence over private contracts.  Thus, to comply with the statute, Facebook would have to give up its contract rights.

Therefore, this law opens the door to greater regulation of facebook photos and other information.  Now that one legislature has encroached on Facebook’s’ ownership of use info, other states (or OK itself) can encroach in other ways, including while a user is still alive.  This law is therefore a step toward saying that the user owns the info on their facebook page, regardless of what the user agreement says.  This demonstrates the status that Facebook has now achieved – it has basically become part of the public domain.  Much like the credit reporting companies who are required to provide free copies of credit reports, Facebook is being required to provide info to users, albeit in a different setting. What will be interesting to see is whether other states follow suit or go further – to hold that users have rights to their profile information while still alive.”

www.SimeoneMiller.com

Tags:

Digital Assets · digital assets estate planning · oklahoma bill 2800 · oklahoma digital estate planning · oklahoma estate planning · oklahoma law · online accounts estate plan