Estate Planning for Digital Assets
Every password-protected account that you own is a digital asset. They should not disappear into a void when you pass. They need to be protected, just as much, and maybe even more, than tangible assets. They can be stolen by cyber-criminals, who can loot bank accounts, retirement funds and more. You can direct that they be transferred, preserved or destroyed, says the Valdosta Daily Times in the article “Preparing an estate strategy for digital assets.”
Digital assets include information on phones and computers, content uploaded to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and others, creative/intellectual content in digital property and records from online communications, including emails and texts.
Do these accounts really have any value? Yes—according to security software provider McAfee, the average American’s digital assets are worth about $55,000.
Estate strategies for digital assets require an awareness of new and changing laws about digital assets. Almost every state has now passed some version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which has defined a path for the future of digital accounts, when the owner passes. RUFADAA has set a hierarchical structure for the transfer of digital assets.
First, if the service provider has a means of permitting the transfer of the asset to a designated party of the original asset owner’s choice, that takes priority. Gmail and Facebook have a means of creating a directive to state the owner’s wishes.
If no such directives are on the website, then the instructions denoted in traditional estate documents must be followed, assuming that those documents are prepared properly.
If none of that is in place, then the service provider’s Terms of Service Agreement (TOSA) takes priority. If the providers TOSA says that the account is a nontransferable lifetime lease, its ownership may not be transferred to another person. However, as a result of RUFADAA, the owner has the right to appoint a fiduciary to access, manage or close out an online account. The power may be exercised, if you are dead or if you are incapacitated.
However—you must name this fiduciary and grant the legal power to an individual through your will, power of attorney or trust agreement. Otherwise, no such authority can be given.
What else should you do? Leave a digital road map for your executor: accounts, passwords and username. Note that if the platforms use facial recognition or other biometric markers, they may not be able to gain access to the accounts. Check with social media and merchant websites to see what policies are for transferring or maintaining digital assets, when the owner dies. You should also look at reward points and credits to see how they can be transferred, and find out how pending transactions, like automatic orders, can be handled.
Consider your executor. Are they comfortable with the digital world, or a technophobe? If they may not be able to manage the digital assets, consider naming another person to handle this task. Your estate planning attorney will be able to include them in your estate planning documents.
Reference: Valdosta Daily Times (May 26, 2019) “Preparing an estate strategy for digital assets”
Suggested Key Terms: Digital Assets, Estate Planning, Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, RUFADAA, Directives