The Wisconsin legislature is considering legislation that will address access to digital assets upon the death of the owner. The current proposal would allow the account holder to set preferences that are sometimes provided by the online service provider such as the after death settings offered by Facebook. Otherwise, default rules will apply that grant a person named in a will or, if no one is named, the next of kin the ability access accounts ranging from email to financial. Recently, this issue has been taken up by a number of state legislatures including Florida which unanimously passed a bill creating a system to dictate access after death. The bill is currently before the Wisconsin Senate after being approved by the assembly.
See Hannah Flood, Bill looks to help protect digital assets after death, NBC15.com, February 25, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
