The Fate Of Digital Assets Not Included In Your Estate Plan

Digital assets are assets that exist within a digital device. Your digital family photos, cryptocurrency, PayPal account, and Google Drive documents – among many other examples – are all digital assets.

If your digital assets are not a part of your estate plan – a part of your will, for example – then those digital assets may be unable to go to your chosen beneficiaries.

Going over the fate of digital assets that are not included in your estate plan, and speaking with an estate planning lawyer, will allow you to protect the assets comprising your estate. 

What Happens To Digital Assets That Are Not Included In Your Estate Plan? 

If digital assets are not included in your estate plan, then those digital assets may vanish.

Just as an example, if your Google account has been unused for at least two years, then that account is likely to be deleted. This means that everything connected to that Google account will also be deleted.

On the other hand, if you list your digital assets in an estate planning document, and give your beneficiaries what they need to access these digital assets, your digital assets can be preserved.

The example clarified above applies to nearly every digital asset: photos and documents stored on your computer’s hard drive, alongside cryptocurrency and PayPal accounts, along with many other examples.

If you have digital assets that you would like to preserve, you must make them a part of your estate plan.

How Can You Protect Your Digital Assets? 

The best way to protect your digital assets is to make them a part of your estate plan. This can be done in many different ways. But, sometimes, the best way to make your digital assets is to list them in your will.

If you make a list of your digital assets, you can clarify all of the digital assets in your possession. By doing so, you can develop instructions – these may include passwords, for example – for your beneficiaries.

Right after you make this list, and clarify these instructions, you can make them a part of your will. Or, if you have another arrangement, you can attach them to another estate planning document.

Your beneficiaries can use the instructions you made to access your digital assets. This way, if you store assets on Google Drive or another storage platform, your beneficiaries can access them. And, in turn, they can preserve them.

Outside of the above, there is one thing to note: if your digital assets are easy to access – they don’t require a password, for example – you should still go over how to access them.

A good example of the above, and its necessity, is as follows: you make an inventory that goes over the files in your unsecured computer but your beneficiaries aren’t sure which computer or what folder these assets are stored in.

If you provide an inventory, with instructions, problems like the above won’t happen. Every single one of your beneficiaries will be able to access the digital assets you wish to give them. 

Speak With A Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Today 

If you would like to protect your digital assets, working with an experienced lawyer is one of the best choices you can make. Speak with a Florida estate planning lawyer at Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group today and we will help you develop an effective estate plan.

Sources: 

law.cornell.edu/wex/asset

law.cornell.edu/wex/will