A brokerage or a bank can’t take your assets directly when you pass away. The laws of your individual state will determine who gets what’s inside those accounts if you don’t have an estate plan or a will in place. But your digital assets are a different matter altogether. Your crypto currency collection, your videos, and your frequent flyer miles all can disappear if you don’t have a clear plan to pass them along.
Furthermore, some of the more personal information associated with your digital estate such as your social media accounts, text messages or even profiles with dating applications could be hacked or shared unless you take steps to secure the information should something happen to you.
Start with a list of all of your devices and their associated passwords when creating an inventory of your online files and digital accounts.
These can include storage and file sharing, emails, blogs, online businesses, shopping services, rewards, books, and virtual currency. Certain assets of a digital nature cannot be passed down. This is usually because when you purchase access to a song or a book, you are only buying the license that expires when you are no longer around. Some companies will also allow you to designate another person to handle your account when you pass away.
These include Facebook and Google. Other online accounts might deactivate you or simply close them out upon the news of your death. To consider all of the various aspects of estate planning, schedule a consultation with a Pasadena lawyer.
