What Are Digital Assets?
Today, the average person has more than 150 digital and traditional accounts, and 93% of Americans do not know how these accounts will be managed. Digital assets are generally:
- Any online account that requires a login and a password to access. This can range widely from email accounts, accounts with financial institutions, online bill-pay accounts, shopping sites like Amazon or Etsy, music and eBook libraries, social media sites, cloud storage that holds our videos and photographs, subscription services, and any number of apps.
- All devices that store digital information, such as computers, smartphones, laptops, tablets, eReaders, and memory devices. Additionally, many computers automatically back-up data storage on the cloud, which may contain intellectual and sentimental property.
Why You Should Plan For Your Digital Assets
Without a plan, the time loved ones will have to spend tracking down accounts, navigating requirements, reviewing account contents, and making final decisions can add up to hundreds of hours of stress. Not to mention the heavy emotional burden of closing or transitioning the accounts. Failure to provide clear directives for all accounts can leave your estate vulnerable to fraud, your heirs subject to costly legal action, or other roadblocks in administering your estate.
Obtaining access to accounts like email, cloud-based storage, social media, and other files is critical to ensuring that property is discovered and distributed to loved ones and heirs. If not properly planned for, digital assets can be lost or overlooked, adding unnecessary anxiety and expense. Unfortunately, Ill-prepared or popular misconceptions have wreaked havoc on an estate, families, fiduciaries, and even financial institutions. For example:
- A Vanguard Group supervisor stole $2.1 million from deceased Vanguard customers’ investments when he recognized that the accounts were dormant because the estate had not logged in.
- A family spent over three and half years and untold expense in court battles with Apple to obtain access to the family photos and videos stored in Apple’s iCloud.
- A widow estimated she lost $600,000 in income from her deceased husband’s consulting business because AOL denied her access to his email and files. Subsequently, AOL permanently deleted all emails, data, and information under her deceased husband’s account after 180 days of inactivity according to their Terms of Service.
- A case that involved international litigation at tremendous cost to a family when 1Password denied a request by a deceased account holder’s estate for access due to their policies, leaving the heirs unable to identify all existing digital assets.
And while there is a growing awareness about the importance of protecting digital assets, lawmakers have barely begun to understand that digital assets have real value. The relationship between the platforms that hold and control access to the digital assets (data and content) and end-users is still fraught with problems.
We Help Plan For Your Digital Assets
Many traditional estate planning firms ignore digital assets but AMO LAW takes planning for your digital assets seriously. One of the benefits we offer as part of our annual membership program is complimentary enrollment in Directive Communications System (DCS). It is the first and only service that simplifies the organization of digital assets and their directives in a way that ensures the administration of your digital assets is carried out in compliance with Terms of Service and federal and state legislation.
The DCS team helps you create a list of your digital accounts and assign directions for how you want those accounts handled. When the estate plan goes into effect, DCS applies those directions in concert with our firm. DCS does not record passwords. Nor does DCS view the account contents, credit card expiration dates, or any other sensitive information. DCS only knows your account exists and protects the integrity of your data in a secure server.
When the time comes, DCS works with accounts to implement an estate’s final wishes which may include deletion, transference, memorialization, or other instructions. This valuable service saves time, money, and emotional impact on loved ones.
