By JEFFREY J. MCKENNA
When a person dies without a will (known as dying “intestate”), the state decides how that person’s assets are distributed. But digital assets such as e-mail and social networking accounts are so recent that most courts have not yet developed rules for how to distribute them when there are no instructions by the owner.
Even when there are instructions, there are other legal hurdles. Just because you have a user name and password with the user’s consent, you could still violate laws by accessing the other person’s account because many social media websites have contracts that protect the privacy of users.
Many people have arrangements to pay bills online or have assets online that are tied to PayPal, eBay or Amazon.com, etc. Business owners are also likely to store important information on computers, or have a domain name or a blog that can only be accessed by password or email.
For now, until there is legislation enacted that makes it permissible to access online accounts with the consent of account owners, it is probably wise to carefully consider all accounts that are accessed online, including photo-storing sites, PayPal accounts, social media sites, etc. and communicate details to permit access to your personal representative or the trustee of your estate lest important information be inaccessible and lost.
In conclusion, it would be wise to include with your estate planning documents a list of passwords and log-in information for all accounts that would be readily accessible upon your death.
Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney with offices in Mesquite and St. George. If you have questions you would like addressed in these articles, contact him at (702)346-1615 or jmckenna@barney-mckenna.com.
2 thoughts on “Digital Assets and Estate Planning”
And make sure that the will does not have a notary seal on every line. my father’s “will” had 26 stamps on it, so it was invalidated and took 5 years to resolve..
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