As life circumstances change and grow, it is very important to modify your existing estate plan for your digital assets. It may seem to be common sense that events such as deaths, marriages, divorces, or births would create a need for an estate plan update. However, other, less obvious changes could also mean that it is a good time for a modification. For this reason, it is a good idea to meet with your Anaheim estate planning lawyer on a regular basis. He may identify a need for an estate plan update that you have not discovered. One such example pertains to your digital assets.
In today’s society, access to many of our assets and our information is contained within the digital world. Years ago, estate plans did not have to take digital assets into consideration when crafting an estate plan. That has since changed. So much of our valuable information is stored online or electronically that having an estate plan that takes into account digital assets and records is crucial. The following are steps that you can take to properly account for your digital life:
- Make a list of all of your digital assets and accounts, and provide it to your Anaheim estate planning lawyer.
- Choose a person who you want to have access to your computer, email, and online accounts following your death or incapacity. This could be your trustee or executor, or it could be someone entirely different. Update your estate planning documents to reflect this appointment.
- Provide this person or your Anaheim estate planning lawyer with usernames, passwords, PIN numbers, and website domain names.
- Incorporate instructions into your estate planning documents for what you would like done with your digital assets. This may include memorializing an account, deleting it, setting up an auto-response or auto-forwarding on an email account, or instructions for keeping a website or blog up and running.
Today’s electronic and online world gives rise to an important need for updating an estate plan for your digital assets. View here for more from an Anaheim estate planning attorney. To learn more about the process of updating your estate plan, view our free pamphlet, The Ten Things You Must Know Before Creating (or Amending) Your Will or Trust. Our office of experienced Anaheim estate planning attorneys can guide you through this process. Call our office today at (714) 282-7488 for a consultation.