The digital world is becoming evermore integrated into everyday living. This integration eases the burden of many tasks, but can also complicate others. With more individuals immersing themselves in the world of technology and utilizing technological assets, the process of after-life-planning can become quite complicated, especially considering the fact that many digital sites and accounts can be considered assets to a person’s estate. Furthermore, the question arises as to what happens to a person’s accounts—such as banking, media, communication, and social media accounts—after a person dies. These issues and others are what more and more people are facing when trying to manage the affairs of their loved ones after they pass away.
The first and most important thing to consider about the digital world and death is that when a person dies, their online presence doesn’t just cease to exist. The individual often has many open accounts and subscriptions that keep functioning even after the person has died. It is important to close or memorialize these accounts in order to protect the deceased person and their assets, or else harm can befall the accounts or assets. For instance, if someone has a Facebook account and passes away without deactivating that account, the account is subject to being hacked, which can result in scams and other accounts that are connected through Facebook also being hacked. This can affect the safety of someone’s online presence, and the safety of their online assets. Furthermore, online assets can be lost if the person has not secured a way for their family to access these assets. This is why it is crucial to understand how to protect digital information and secure this information after death.
One of the most important things a person can do to protect their digital information after death is to include what they want done with their digital assets in their Will. Doing so will protect their assets in many different ways as there is now legal documentation to support the wishes of the deceased person. This is also useful because laws on how digital assets are dealt with after death vary from state to state. Having intentions written down in a Will ensures that intentions comply with state laws, and eases the process of beneficiaries accessing those digital assets. Intentions should not only include what the person wants done with digital assets, but also their online accounts such as social media and email accounts. This will ensure that the deceased person’s wishes are being taken care of as an online presence can be just as important to an individual as their physical presence.
Another beneficial thing to consider doing when trying to protect digital information and assets is to have a secure place where all online account information is written down. This should be kept only where trusted loved ones know where it is, and it should be protected from fire or other calamities that could affect loved ones’ ability to access this information. This secure place should have all account usernames and passwords, along with any other information that is needed such as operating system passwords. This ensures that loved ones can access the accounts easier when the time comes to put in order end-of-life wishes regarding digital information.
The last important thing to consider doing when taking care of after-death digital affairs is to understand each site’s User Terms and Conditions. This will affect the family’s ability to access files, media, and private account information after the death of a loved one. Each site has different User Terms and Conditions, and these were agreed upon before participating with the site. Unfortunately, most people do not actually read and understand what the terms are before agreeing with them. This is why it is important for a loved one to read and understand what the conditions are when trying to access digital information or assets. Reading these first will ease the process of obtaining such online assets, and it will better prepare an individual when contacting the site’s help resources in order to manage the deceased person’s accounts or assets. It is wise to read these conditions before creating a Will as well, as the terms will affect how and what information can be accessed by another person post-life. Understanding these can also ease the process of obtaining information as some sites, such as Facebook, have policies stating that a user can designate a person to manage that account’s affairs. Understanding these can skirt the whole issue of having to contact the site’s help service in order to manage an online account after death.
Managing a loved one’s online accounts after death is normally the last thing that a family wants to consider when organizing post-life affairs. However, it is crucial that a family understands what accounts they do need to manage as they can often be connected to bank accounts and online assets and revenue. Online accounts should be regarded as any other physical account is, and should be considered just as valuable. With the right preplanning and understanding, a family can efficiently manage a deceased person’s digital information.
Blog Resources
https://www.newsday.com/business/protect-digital-assets-death-1.27413363
https://jbmartinlaw.com/inheriting-itunes-what-happens-to-your-digital-assets-at-death/
https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/protect-your-digital-assets-after-death/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612283/six-things-to-do-with-your-data-before-you-die
https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/what-happens-to-your-digital-assets-when-you-die
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/man-dies-100million-cryptocurrency-computer-13953555