Have you heard the term ‘digital estate planning’? If you haven’t, you are not alone, as most people don’t realize they have a digital estate despite storing photos of loved ones online and owning social media accounts.
It is vital to ensure your digital estate plan is as up-to-date and comprehensive as your traditional estate plan, and SCC Legal can help. We have been serving NJ families and businesses for more than forty years and are ready to help you protect your digital assets. Our comprehensive guide will give you a better understanding of the subject.
What are Digital Assets Exactly?
Most people have several and don’t even realize it! If you have any of the following, you should include these digital assets in your estate planning process:
- Online banking accounts
- Social media accounts
- Emails
- Digital photos
- Digital music you purchased
- Cloud storage
- Website domains
- Funds in an online store
- Cryptocurrency
- All information on your phone or computer requiring a login.
Although your online banking account is a digital asset, the money in your account is not and must be included in your will. If you use a cloud storage account for your family photos, the images and other stored information are deemed digital assets and should be part of your digital estate plan.
Creating Your Digital Estate Plan
The first step to creating a digital estate plan is to list all your digital assets and divide them into those that can be included in a will and the items falling under your digital estate. Decide who should have access to your files and accounts when you become incapacitated or pass away and what you want that person to do with the digital assets. Must they distribute content to loved ones, modify, or even delete some of the digital assets?
It has been challenging, for various reasons, to determine who has the legal right to a person’s digital assets. The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) provides more clarification and has been enacted in New Jersey.
Digital Estate Planning Checklist
We are all aware of the importance of keeping our online information safe. The usernames, passwords, logins, and any other passcodes for your digital assets must be excluded from your will to prevent them from becoming public records. Ensure you check the following off in your digital estate planning checklist:
- Are your apps, intellectual property, entertainment and other subscriptions, utilities, and security systems listed?
- Have you added the access information next to each asset?
- Is it clear what you want the digital executor to do with each asset?
- Do you know where you will keep the digital estate plan?
- Does your loved ones know the plan exists and where to find it?
Appointing a Digital Executor
The final step in the digital estate planning process is appointing a digital executor. It can be your estate’s executor, or you can name a separate person if you want to maintain privacy for specific reasons. Estate planning lawyers at SCC Legal can advise if the law requires you to grant your digital executor approval to access certain assets, such as emails.
For more information on wills, probate, and estate planning law, or if you want to discuss digital estate planning in NJ, please contact our team at SCC Legal today or visit us at: https://www.scclegal.com/