Easily forgotten, digital assets are an important part of estate planning

June 27, 2013

Easily forgotten, digital assets are an important part of estate planning

Article provided by Louis Pacella Law Offices
Visit us at http://www.athomeplanning.com/

As you create a will or engage in estate planning, when you think of property that you need to distribute, you may think of your home, personal effects and other real estate. However, as technological advances have changed the world, many people neglect to address important electronic assets.

These types of assets are collectively known as digital assets. They include property such as digital photos, videos, e-mails and songs. Besides things for leisure, digital assets can also include income-earning items such as a website that generates advertising revenue or a seller's account on eBay. Additionally, other important documents such as medical records and tax returns are increasingly being stored electronically.

According to recent survey by McAfee, the average American online user has about $37,000 in digital assets. Since digital assets and online accounts are important financially, an estate plan is incomplete if they are left out of the planning process.

There is no current California law that provides how estate trustees and beneficiaries can access digital assets on the deceased's behalf. Because of this, most of the time the terms of service of the website governs how an account may be accessed after a user's death. Unfortunately, the terms of many websites provide that access is terminated upon the user's death. In other cases, it is necessary to go to court to get an order for a beneficiary or trustee to get access.

Including digital assets in your estate

Since there is no clear law governing what happens to digital assets after death, it is important to address them in your estate plan. There are a couple of ways to do this. One way is to address it in your will. You can include a clause that allows the administrator of your estate to access your digital assets, distribute, or delete them. Before doing so, it is important to define what your digital assets are and to provide specific instructions to the administrator regarding how you would like your digital assets handled.

Another way is to create language in trust governing the control of your digital assets. Upon your death, the terms of the trust give your beneficiaries the right to access your account information.

If your estate plan does not address the disposition of your digital assets, it is important to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney. An attorney can advise you of your options and ensure that the disposition of your electronic assets will be carried out according to your wishes.