Make things as easy as possible for yourself, and the loved ones who will eventually step in to help, by proactively organizing your digital affairs. For example, carefully provide account and access information to your designated representatives. Don’t forget to set up the “legacy contact features” on the apps you use too. Read on for tips.
Digital Legacy?
Careful planning for traditional bank and investment accounts, real estate and other tangible assets is, of course, an important aspect of estate planning. However, with more and more of life spent in the digital space, don’t forget to think about your online accounts too. At the New York Times, J.D. Beirsdorfer reminds us that “the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, enacted by most states, gives a chosen representative (like your estate’s executor) the authority to manage your electronic affairs,” and encourages including “specific instructions about how you want your online accounts and all digital content handled when you die or become incapacitated” alongside your official estate planning documents. Beirsdorfer offers these additional tips for leaving digital affairs in order:
Giving access to your account user names and passwords will greatly help your representative, but proceed carefully. You will need a safe place to list the credentials for all your financial institutions, as well as for any e-commerce stores, insurance policies, online storage, email, social media platforms, cable and wireless carriers, medical apps, and media subscriptions. One way to encrypt and store this sensitive information is to enter it all into a password-manager app.
Wirecutter recommends 1Password or Bitwarden. Apple and Google have their own free apps. If you want an analog option, print out the list or write everything down in a notebook. Keep it updated, but make sure the list is locked in a secured location. Note the passwords and passcodes needed to get into your password manager app, phone, computer or tablet. Your survivors may need your contact list, and they may need to keep your phone accessible for any necessary two-factor authentication codes.
It is also wise to name a “legacy contact” for all of your online accounts, including Apple, Google, and Facebook. Essentially, a legacy contact is the person you authorize to manage the account when you die. Follow these pointers and links for setting up the legacy account features with Google, Apple, and Facebook:
- Apple added a legacy contact feature to its software in 2021 and lets you select a manager for your Apple account used with iPhones, iPads and Macs. To set it up, go into your system settings on the device or Mac, select your name and then Sign In & Security, and choose Legacy Contact.
- Google has an Inactive Account Manager tool for dealing with your Google Account if you are not able to use it. To set it up, visit the Data & Privacy settings of your Google Account.
- Facebook has a legacy contact setting for designating someone to manage your profile page, as well as a setting to delete your account when the company is notified of your death. For sites that don’t let you designate a person — and that you haven’t left instructions about — your executor typically must contact the company and request that the account be deleted or memorialized (converted to a static page).
Given the many and varied types of digital assets that are becoming part of our lives, inventorying them and providing trusted loved ones or professionals, such as executors or, even a specific “digital executor,” with information about accessing them, is another important way to curtail stress and prevent loss down the road. Of course, legal documents, such as wills, powers of attorney, and trusts, should incorporate official plans for digital assets. It’s wise to work with an estate planning attorney on both an overall and digital estate plan, since rules are changing rapidly.
Helpful To Know: Estate Bonds
Frequently the representatives appointed to administer estate plans, such as executors, digital executors, personal representatives, or trustees are required to obtain a type of bond, referred to generally as an estate bond. The purpose of an estate bond is to guarantee that assets will be properly handled in accordance with the estate plan, as well as state laws and protocols. An estate bond is sometimes alternatively named specifically based on the role of the fiduciary. For example, an estate bond may be referred to as a trustee, executor, personal representative, guardianship or conservator bond.
Colonial Surety Company makes it quick and easy to obtain estate bonds of all kinds. A user-friendly online service allows you to quote and obtain a bond that is instantly available to download or e-file. Fiduciaries in every state can efficiently obtain their estate bonds right here:
Estate planning attorneys can help clients secure court and fiduciary bonds with a few clicks on The Partnership Account® for Attorneys. Just select the bond needed, send it to your client for payment, and then download, e-file or print the bond. Our fiduciary bonds include: administrator, estate, executor, guardian, personal representative, probate, surrogate, trustee, conservator and the list goes on. Court bonds include: appeal, supersedeas, injunction, replevin, receiver and more.
Colonial Surety is rated “A Excellent” by A.M. Best Company, U.S. Treasury listed, and licensed for business everywhere in the USA. Our customers have awarded us a 4.8 Trustpilot score. Whenever and wherever you need a bond, trust Colonial: www.colonialsurety.com