Note: This is a guest post by Justin Toladro of Life Insurance Finder from Australia
A legacy has been part of human nature since the beginning of time. Old wisdom prescribed ‘planting a tree’ and bearing a son to carry on a legacy, to gain a sense of immortality, and to leave something behind that is sure to outlive us.
Many write books, blogs, and have obtained a strong online presence, which equates to a lengthy and diverse digital legacy.
A digital legacy is quite different than a physical legacy that includes a son, or a tree or any other kind of physical treasure. It is a part of us that contains our innermost thoughts, our political and religious beliefs, our love letters and what makes us who we are. It is something that is not quite tangible, but yet, is accessible.
Yet, to some of our friends and family, this digital legacy, with all of its photographs, mementos, emails and posts, may be an even more satisfying and lasting memory of our lives and how we lived them, to pass on to our children, grandchildren and friends and loved ones.
We live in a digital world that is rapidly replacing the physical word, as far as documentation, and personal data. Everything is emailed, faxed and downloaded, and most of us even pay our bills online, and carry on all of our financial matters there as well.
But what happens to that legacy when we die? Where does it go and what remains of our digital selves after our Digital Death?
Why digital data should be preserved:
When someone dies, most of the digital information that they created and participated in, such as profiles in many of the social network sites, or business identities, stays behind.
Deciding what part of your digital self you’d like to see remain can mean what part of your personal legacy you leave behind. The decision of course, is yours, but what if you die before you make a decision about that digital legacy? What is left of you after your death if there are no instructions in which to guide your legacy?
And what exactly is out there to see that you’d not be particularly proud?
Importance of digital data:
Mark Raby of TG Daily, says “38% of Americans would rather lose their wedding ring than all the files on their computer, and that’s just the beginning of the insights provided by a new study on the importance of digital data.” Although these statistics are sketchy, I mean how many people are going to admit this? The truth is, our computers and data are what most of our lives revolve around. Everything we do, care about, feel and believe are resting somewhere out in cyberspace.
Preserving your digital data:
Raby says that most people do not even back up this critical data. So, a great start would be a back up system to ensure that those critical photos, documents, music and other online information is safe, and will not be lost should you experience a hard drive crash.
Another method many people use is a ‘flash drive’. This is an exterior drive that condenses your information and stores it off the computer should a crash occur, and can act as a guide for family and friends, as well. It can contain sensitive information that can be locked in a safe, or other secure method to be opened upon your death.
Digital Will:
This is one document that will not only benefit you and how you want to leave your digital legacy, whether it remains or is removed after your death, and is also a guideline to how you want your family to see your legacy. Do you want personal information left in email accounts, or social network sites?
This is the place to state your wishes, and also give family and friends access to what you feel is appropriate.
Creating a digital will is not difficult, most times it is just attached to an existing will or living trust.
Start a list and keep it updated:
Making a list of all of your online activities for a month would be a great start to recording and keeping the important digital legacy that is you. Suggestions are to begin by creating a document in a word processing system, which allows links to specific sites.
Adding user ID’s and passwords, as well as what data is there can relieve even the most computer savvy person, when and if something happens to you.
This document should be incorporated into the digital will you’ve created and should be kept with a person you trust, or a legal representative to be given access only to the people you have chosen to give access.
Keeping your online data safe, stored, easily accessible and edited for content will leave a lasting digital legacy for which you can be proud.
- Tags:
- death insurance · digital death · Digital Estate Planning · life insurance
In December, Attorneys Nathan Dosch and Joseph W. Boucher of Neider and Boucher wrote an article called E-Legacy: Who Inherits Your Digital Assets? for Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine. This month, Wisconsin Lawyer picked the article as the Wisconsin Lawyer Article of the Year. The article talks about digital assets, who they relate to law practice and what attorneys should be doing about digital assets right now. From the award link:
Boucher and Dosch are being honored for their article “E-Legacy: Who Inherits Your Digital Assets?” (Dec. 2010). In selecting the article, the Dunn award subcommittee said, “This article provides an insight into a new and emerging area of the law that could have a huge impact for estate planning lawyers and their clients. The article explores the issues that are unique to electronic assets, and points out how current property, contract, and probate laws do not adequately address ‘digital assets.’ Finally, the authors provide suggestions on questions lawyers should consider when working with their clients and how to address these issues under current law.”
We are especially excited about this award because both Boucher and Dosch have worked with us from the very beginning of Entrustet. They helped us think about how to create a legal solution for both web users and attorneys. We believe that this award shows that attorneys are starting to take digital assets seriously and are starting to realize that digital assets are a big part of a person’s estate. They need to be taken care of in an estate plan or they risk being lost or deleted.
Check out the article and let us know what you think!
- Tags:
- Digital Estate Planning · e legacy · estate planning online accounts · joseph boucher digital assets · nathan dosch digital assets · neider boucher digital asssets · wisconsin lawyer digital assets
Donna Otis, Principal of Otis Law Group in Chicago became the newest member of Entrustet’s Lawyer Directory, the Web’s only listing of attorneys dedicated to providing clients with estate planning services that include the protection of digital assets. We’re excited to have Donna on board and to be able to offer another great attorney option to Entrustet users in the Chicago area!
More about Donna Otis and Otis Law Group
Firm name: Otis Law Group
Contact Lawyer Name: Donna Otis
Phone: (773) 382-0632
Address: 1525 E. 53rd Street
City: Chicago
State: IL
Zip Code: 60615
Licensed to practice in: Illinois, Wisconsin
Website: www.otislawgroup.com
Donna Otis is recognized for her knowledge of elder law, estate planning, administration, and probate (including decedent’s estates and guardianships) matters. She is a speaker on legal topics directly affecting minority communities, including the need for planning for disability and death. Otis Law provides Estate Planning services, Probate services, Disability law services, and Elder law services.
Donna has received several awards, including being the 2010 Recipient of Distinguished Service Award from Chicago Volunteer Legal Services for legal work as Guardian Ad Litem, as well as being selected for inclusion in Illinois Super Lawyers-Rising Stars Editions for 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Trusts and Estates). She is also a member of the Illinois State Bar Association (Trust and Estate Section Council), Chicago Estate Planning Council, and the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee (Hearing Board Member).
More about Entrustet’s Lawyer Directory
Entrustet’s Lawyer Directory is the only source on the Web for finding attorneys certified to practice digital estate planning as part of their estate planning services. The Directory has over 20 law firms licensed to practice in17 states, representing over 15,000 clients. For more information on the Directory, or on how attorneys can join the Directory, please contact Entrustet at lawyers@entrustet.com, or by phone: (608) 514-1490.
- Tags:
- digital estate planner · Digital Estate Planning · donna otis · estate planner chicago
Jen Santini, Sykora & Santini (full bio at bottom)
Guest Post by Jen Santini
Probate attorneys are hired to provide services to help administer an estate and allow for the decedent’s family members to focus on the more important matters, such as grieving and spending time with one another. The services range from handling the “legal” aspects of a probate to assisting with the organization of the decedent’s affairs. To truly serve the needs of a probate client – the personal representative – attorneys need to be cognizant of all aspects of the estate and ensure that all details, whether big or small, are tended to.
Recently I realized that these services needed to include handling decedents’ digital assets. In a perfect world all individuals would properly prepare for his or her death and have an estate plan in place. Furthermore, in a perfect world, that estate plan would include provisions for digital assets. However, we all know this is not the case. As attorneys, we need to be the ones who recognize the importance of planning for digital assets and going forward we need to incorporate these assets into our practices. Until such time that these assets are provided for in standard estate planning documents, and as we continue to retain probate clients, we need to be mindful of these assets when probating an estate.
I have used Entrustet’s Digital Property Search to help provide complete and thorough assistance to a probate client. Without the use of this report, the personal representative and I would not have been aware of all the decedent’s digital accounts. Knowing of these accounts allowed us to properly close and access the necessary accounts to ensure the decedent’s personal information was protected.
The Digital Legacy Report can provide information on whether a decedent had certain “financial” accounts such as PayPal accounts or other web-based financial management services. While these accounts should ultimately be closed, you may actually need access to these accounts while you are still probating the estate. At the very least, you will want to ensure the company is aware of the decedent’s death in case of any unauthorized activity with these accounts. People fall victim to identity theft often because they are not diligent about verifying the activities under their accounts. Yes, a decedent is deceased and so identity theft may not have as much of an impact on that individual. However, if actual monetary assets are at stake, you can be certain that the beneficiaries will want to confirm those assets are protected.
Additionally, the Digital Property Search Report helps identify any digital assets that may be of actual monetary value, such as photographs or domain names for businesses. Some people are extremely private and therefore their personal representatives and/or family members may not even be aware in what the decedent was involved. If you are not aware of an estate’s assets, beneficiaries may not receive all that is entitled to them.
As individuals accumulate more and more digital assets, it will be even more imperative that they properly plan for those assets. Attorneys need to incorporate this practice into their estate plans to proactively protect these assets. Likewise, attorneys need to consider researching decedents’ digital assets to retroactively protect them and can do so by utilizing a service such as Entrustet’s Digital Property Search.
Bio:
Jennifer Santini is a founding partner of the law firm Sykora & Santini, which focuses on business law and estate planning. She is also a co-founder and contributor to Epilawg, which is a collaborative blog by four lawyers providing all the pieces to complete your estate plan. Before becoming an attorney, Jen worked in the legal departments of two investment management companies in Boston, MA.
- Tags:
- Digital Estate Planning · Digital Property Report · Digital Property Search
Wayne C. Buckwalter, Partner, Cohen, Seglias, Pallas, Greenhall & Furman
How Do I Make Sure My Online Business Is Preserved?
As a wealth preservation attorney, I find it particularly important to review digital assets with all clients, especially those with online businesses. The question I routinely get is “what happens to online businesses if the owner passes away? Do they just disappear?” To prevent the businesses from “disappearing”, I recommend that my clients gather in one place all of the information regarding the domain name registration for the business, making sure to include:
· Vendor contacts
· Logins for websites
· Domain name providers
· Access to means to transfer funds for the online business
Almost routinely, when I suggest compiling the above information, the next question I am asked is “Gee, how would I do that?” One way to do this is via an electronic repository, such as Entrustet.com’s Account Guardian service. Another way is through your attorney. Your estate plan documents will instruct your fiduciary where to find an up to date inventory of your online information. An example of which could be a memory stick or removable hard drive, kept in a secure location.
I have also suggested to several online business savvy clients that they establish a side business to assist other online business owners in preserving and transferring a valuable asset.
Don’t let this become a daunting task and prevent you from performing this asset preserving strategy. Carefully preserving your electronic assets will make the transition much easier for your family.
There are a couple of avenues to turn to for help in getting started with the preservation process. A good place to start is with your estate planning attorney. He or she can help to build a succession plan and strategy for your online assets, and make sure everything is in order. Rather than only having your attorney shoulder the expense and potential liability exposure for providing and maintaining your asset preservation, it might also be wise to consider using a digital asset service for added protection.
If you own any online assets, don’t wait to get a plan in order. The more time you give the better, so you can make sure that everything is in order and accounted for properly.
Wayne C. Buckwalter is Chair of the Wealth Preservation Group at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, PC. He can be reached at wbuckwalter@cohenseglias.com or 215.564.1700.
- Tags:
- attorney's thoughts · cohen seglias · Digital Assets · Digital Estate Planning · lawyer's thoughts · wayne buckwalter
