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Digital legacy planning is becoming an essential part of estate planning for many individuals. It involves determining how your digital assets, such as social media accounts, emails, photos, videos, and other online accounts will be managed after your death. It’s a whole new field brought about by the proliferation of digital life, and navigating it can be tricky for beginners. Here we will offer some valuable tips to start with digital legacy planning:
1. Inventory your Digital Assets:
Start by noting down all of your digital assets, you might be surprised at how many you have. These can include:
– Digital devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones
– Emails and social media accounts
– Online banking and PayPal accounts
– Websites, blogs, or Etsy stores you own
– Cryptocurrency wallets
– Digital photos, videos, music, eBooks
– Virtual property like domain names or virtual reality assets
– Loyalty points from airlines, hotels, etc.
2. Determine what you want to Happen:
For each of your digital assets, you need to determine what you’d like to happen after you’re gone. The email and social media accounts might be memorialized or completely deleted, online banking and PayPal accounts should probably be closed, and the money transferred elsewhere.
Also, if you have a lot of digital photos, videos, or other items with sentimental value, make sure you specify who should receive these after your death.
3. Appoint a Digital Executor:
A digital executor is someone who will be in charge of your digital assets upon your demise. It’s wise to choose someone who is tech-savvy and will be able to navigate the different platforms and procedures involved. In some cases, it might be a good idea to use a different person than your regular executor, as the skills needed for managing digital assets might be different.
4. Make your Wishes Known:
Once you’ve listed your account and determined what you’d like done with each of them, you need to make this information known. You can do this by writing a digital will and storing it securely. It’s also wise to use a password manager to store your passwords so that your digital executor can access your accounts.
5. Plan for your Digital Legacy Regularly:
Just like with conventional estate planning, your digital legacy plan should be updated regularly. As you open and close digital accounts, make sure to update your inventory and wishes. Similarly, if your appointed digital executor declines the role, make sure you have a backup.
6. Use Online Tools:
Several online tools can help you with digital legacy planning. Platforms like Google’s Inactive Account Manager or Facebook’s Legacy Contact allows you to designate someone to manage your account after you pass away.
Digital legacy planning is not something that can be done once and forgotten about. As our digital lives continue to evolve and expand, planning for the end of that life needs to evolve as well. That said, by following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a clear, effective digital legacy plan that can save your loved ones’ significant stress in the future.
