Have you ever considered what will happen to your digital assets if you die or become incapacitated? It's not a pleasant thought, but it's a necessary consideration and one you should think about before it’s too late.
What are digital assets?
Digital assets are accounts, records, and information that belong to you in digital formats. Think about all your online accounts across social media, email, cloud services, photo sharing sites and apps, online shopping services, and financial institutions. Many of these accounts may need to be accessed in the event of your passing or incapacitation, but if you don't detail what accounts are out there and who can legally access them, it may make things very difficult for the people who have to deal with it when you are no longer able to.
According to Cassady Law Offices in Henderson, Nevada, money in an online bank account and even credit card reward points can be considered digital assets. This illustrates just how important it is to have things in order.
“As more assets are being held or stored online, it can create challenges for Nevada residents when it comes to estate planning, " Cassady’s blog reports.1 "For example, an individual must remember to divulge the username and password of any account that is held online. Furthermore, there may be questions over who owns a digital asset and who may access it after a person dies. These are important questions to answer as digital assets may have real value."
Digital assets should be addressed in any estate planning documentation you prepare to prevent family members or beneficiaries from being denied access or control to important or even purely sentimental documents and information.
Review your accounts and associated policies
Review all your active online accounts, such as social media, email, etc., and look up what their policies are in the event of the user's death. Then, take the necessary actions to ensure the accounts are protected.
Organize billing information
To make it as easy as possible on your loved ones, maintain a list of all active accounts that generate bills, including internet service, subscription-based services like NetFlix, etc. Let them know exactly how to access this list and provide login information so that accounts can be easily disabled, and billers can be notified accordingly.
Backup your data
Backup your personal files that are currently stored online. The cloud is great for convenient access to your files from any location, but if you die or become unable to log in, your loved ones might have trouble accessing your accounts, or they may have missed messages from cloud storage providers about renewing subscriptions or other situations that impact your data. It's safest to keep important data backed up locally on your own hard drive that your loved ones can access. (Remember to leave the password to your computer if you’ve set one up!)
Ensure important business info and accounts are accessible
If you own or share a business with partners, you have even more to worry about. You'll need to make sure accounts can be accessed that are critical to business operations, such as storage and hosting solutions, marketing accounts, etc. Make a business-specific list of digital assets and associated information just as you did for your personal digital assets.
In 2019, the state revised the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (aka: RUFADAA), which provides language for people to use in their estate planning documents that make clear how digital assets are to be handled.2 It is important for Nevada residents to refer to this or to go through an attorney who is familiar with it so that the proper language is used, and digital assets are able to be accessed without issue.
If you have not addressed digital assets in your estate planning or updated it recently, it would be wise to do so as soon as possible for the sake of your loved ones, business partners, and/or beneficiaries.