If you inadvertently lock out your executor
or the very person who has power of attorney over your finances, you can create
a huge hassle for your family just trying to pay your bills. Since we now live in a paperless world, they
need something important – your passwords.
We live in a digital world. This
is a world void of paper but steeped with overflowing information. Nevertheless,
we still tend to think of assets in terms of “real things” that can be printed
on paper or locked in a safety deposit box.
So, have you planned your estate
to account for your “digital assets”?
If you have not, then you are
leaving a big estate mess for your loved ones to clean up. This was the subject
of a recent Forbes article titled “You Just Locked Out Your Executor And Made
Your Estate Planning A Monumental Hassle.”
The original article offers an
expansive look at all of the digital assets to consider, as well as many ways
making your assets “digital” can be helpful. Here’s the most important warning
from the article: to enable your beneficiaries and your executors to secure
your digital assets and square away everything from bank accounts to twitter
accounts, you must provide your passwords. Thereafter, the sky is the limit!
If you are a tech-savvy, then
likely you can think of new ways to make technology work for you. For example,
there are new services that even allow you to store your living will online,
providing easy access by your doctors. Furthermore, even simple data storage
capabilities become meaningful when you realize that the entire family photo
collection can be turned into something every family member can “hold” and view
with pleasure on demand – once it’s digitized.
Whether you’re tech-savvy or
not, your digital well-being ought be secured and even leveraged if you make
proper plans and take advantage of the evolving technology.
For more information and articles on
estate planning and elder law topics, please visit our website and sign up for our free monthly
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Reference: Forbes (October
18, 2012) “You Just Locked Out Your Executor And Made
Your Estate Planning A Monumental Hassle”