What You Need To Know About Digital Estate Planning

Digital assets are a fairly new concept in the field of estate planning. However, they are still assets like any other and you should make adequate plans to ensure that they are safeguarded once you have passed on. This necessitates their inclusion in your estate plan. It is important to know the steps that you need to take in order to ensure that your digital assets are well covered by your estate plan. Should you need help, an attorney comes in handy to help take care of the legal aspects.

Make an Inventory of Digital Assets

This is the most important aspect of planning for your digital assets. It might seem like a simple task since everything is stored digitally but it is often the exact opposite. You should consider how long you have been using computers just to get an idea of how much digital assets you might have accumulated over the years. An expert can help to guide you on how to categorize the assets so that you separate the commercial interests from the personal interests. For instance, your social media accounts are largely considered personal holdings. However, you might also have an online business with a large commercial interest. The inventory you take should ensure that you capture all the login details for any online resources you have, as well as hardware such as phones, tablets and computers. This makes it easy for your executors to gain access to the digital assets you have both online and offline. You should also record all the necessary domain names, intellectual property, copyrights, and trademarks that you hold.

Valuation

Valuing digital assets can be a contentious issue. This is especially the case with assets not related to your business. You can consider giving a detailed description of how you value each of the assets you have inventoried. The assets do not have to be of monetary value, especially if they are things you wish to transfer to a loved one. For instance, a personal blog detailing the growth of your child can have sentimental but not monetary value for that child.

Decision Making

The next step is to decide how you want your digital assets handled. For instance, you might leave instructions that personal social media and email accounts are closed. There are other assets that you might want to be archived while others should be transferred to your heirs. You should ensure that your executor has all the information about what you want done for each digital asset that you have inventoried. For more information, contact an estate planning company like Jolein A. Harro, P.C.


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