Estate Planning for the Digital Age

According to a 2012 Rocket Lawyer survey, most Americans forego estate planning altogether.  Yet who informs Facebook or other social media outlets and online services know you have passed away? 

As of now, only one state, Delaware, has a law allowing family members access to online profiles after someone dies.  The law still faces problems with companies like Yahoo and Twitter that have different policies for handling online information after someone’s passing.  In addition to the high price of hiring a lawyer to deal with these issues, it becomes clear why many people may not bother with planning.

Woody Levin contemplated these issues, and he came up with the idea to create a digital safe deposit box for all assets—online and off.  His company, Estate Assist, aims to help you store all of your online passwords, social media accounts, digital health records, bank and other paperwork.  The site works by informing the loved ones you choose that the account exists.  It will release information about all your accounts and digital paperwork as soon as this person can verify you have passed. 

See Sarah Buhr, Estate Assist Wants to Provide Estate Planning for the Social Media Age, MSN, Oct. 1, 2014.