Your will and trust lay out whom you want to inherit your cash, home and investments after you pass away. You probably also included personal items like your car, record collection and family keepsakes. But did you remember to include your digital assets?
In 2023, virtually everybody in Springfield owns digital assets. If you own a computer, tablet and/or smartphone, you have digital assets, which include things like digital photos, videos and documents. Those assets also live on your social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and whatever platforms you use, along with your files stored in a cloud.
Sentimental value and more
Many digital assets, like photos and videos of your children and grandchildren, mostly have sentimental value. Then there are documents that contain sensitive information like bank account numbers and passwords. Either way, you probably want to pass them on to your family. But unless you specifically bequeath these assets in your will, getting access to these files could become very difficult and take your executor a long time to figure out.
Alerting Big Tech
The process also must involve the companies that host your digital assets. To protect your privacy and security, companies like Apple and Google require documentary proof of who will inherit your accounts with them. You should also ensure that you include every source of digital assets, including your online and cloud accounts and every device in your house that contains files.
Taking care of this now can help save your loved ones a lot of headaches someday. Your estate planning attorney can help you organize your digital assets and make sure the people you want will have access.
