Account for digital assets such as online bank and brokerage accounts in your estate plan to ensure your loved ones can access them. If you die without addressing them, your loved ones may not be able to access them without going to court or, worse yet, may not even know they exist.
The first step in accounting for digital assets is to conduct an inventory, including any computers, servers or handheld devices where these assets are stored. Next, talk with your estate planning advisor about strategies for ensuring that your representatives have immediate access to these assets in the event something happens to you.
Although you might want to provide in your will for the disposition of certain digital assets, a will isn’t the place to list passwords or other confidential information, because a will is a public document. One solution is writing an informal letter to your executor or personal representative that lists important accounts, website addresses, usernames and passwords. Another option is to establish a master password that gives the representative access to a list of passwords for all your important accounts, either on your computer or through a Web-based “password vault.”
If you need help with your estate planning, please contact us.
