Seriously! You have to start thinking about that. We had to, when we heard of the Peggy Bush story. This 72-year old Canadian widow was told by Apple to get a court order if she wanted to continue playing a card game app. Bush and her husband used a single Apple ID to purchase apps, including the card game
app that Peggy wanted to continue playing. After her husband passed away in August, she couldn’t find the Apple ID password and contacted Apple to reset the Apple ID password. Which is when, she found out that she needed a court order for it!
Jim Lamm, top estate planning lawyer and author of digitalpassing.com, shares a few handy tips for managing digital property in his latest article. He writes, ‘First, make a list of your important passwords, online accounts, and digital property, and specify what should be done with each item on your list if you aren’t around. Keep your list up to date, store it in a secure location, and let your fiduciaries and family members know how to access it.’ He also offers an easy-to-use template which can be downloaded here.
This may seem like a weird thing to do. But, as we choose to store valuable information in the cloud, we also need to take steps to ensure that the information is accessible to your family members eventually.
Our digital assets include email accounts, online sales accounts, online purchasing accounts, domain names and more. Until recently an inheritance meant real estate, art, jewelry and intangible assets like patents or shares. But, to the joy, or dismay, of estate planning lawyers worldwide, there is a whole new category called ‘digital assets’. Case in point: Peggy Bush. So, think ahead and plan wise choices for your digital assets. PS Facebook allows you a legacy contact. Check it out here.
Maximum Value. Achieved.