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Estate Administration in Our Digital World

By Gerry W. Beyer

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In our digital world, it’s increasingly important to plan aheadfor the administration of our virtual estate. Besides valuable financial information found online, most people alsohave email accounts, social networking accounts, photos, and music that havesentimental value.  Thisonline presence can be difficult for executors to access if the decedent hasn’tleft a password.  Some websites likeGmail and Hotmail have policies that “may” assist executors.  Other sites like Facebook and LinkedIn allowthe family to make formal requests concerning a decedent’s account.  Sites like Twitter and Yahoo! de-activate ordelete the account while sites like Apple have no policy.

To help executors unlock all of your digital information, it’s agood idea to leave a list of your confidential user IDs and passwords in asafe, with a trusted person, or with an online company.  Please see my article, EstatePlanning in the Digital Age, for additional information.

See Gary A. Phillips, Mary W. Browning & Leo Matarazzo, Estate Administration in a Paperless World,Lexology, June 4, 2013.

Posted in:
Estate Administration, Estate Planning - Generally, Non-Probate Assets and Technology