What is a Digital Estate Plan & Do you Need one?
A Digital Estate Plan, put simply, is a list of everything that you hold online and digitally – be that bank accounts, photographs, emails, documents, work, contracts, online accounts and every other aspect of your life that you manage digitally.
Dealing with someone’s Estate following their passing is no easy task, even when everything is in order but couple that with trying to find, and then access!, everything they hold and manage digitally…it can be a minefield.
So, it seems sensible to get everything in order and organised so that should anyone else need to access your accounts and digital assets they know where to begin. Well, that sounds easy enough, right? But, where to begin…
First things first,
Start with a list
List out all of your online accounts (including email addresses, banks, store, storage, etc.) and then for each, write out:
- Username;
- Password;
- Subscription?
- Fees?
- Any other useful information (memorable words/secret questions etc.)
It may be easier to add to this each time you access an account, as there are bound to be at least a couple you forget when listing them out from the top of your head.
What do you want to happen?
Whilst it may be quite clear what is to happen with some accounts after you have passed (online saving accounts, for example), for some it may not be so straightforward, and this may take some more time to consider.
For some accounts, social media accounts for example, you may want these to pass on to loved ones, or even work colleagues if they are business accounts.
Other accounts, you may want to be closed down or deleted. Some social media platforms have their own way of dealing with legacy accounts and so if this is something important to you, you can check out your individual account settings for each of the relevant platforms that you use.
Tell Someone you Trust
It is all very well collating and organising your digital assets, but this is little good if there is no one else that knows where it is kept or stored. Ensuring your Executor or someone else that you trust is aware of your Digital Estate Plan is key to ensuring your wishes are followed (and making sure that all your assets are found and dealt with!).
Consider Professional Advice
Now that you have your comprehensive and organised list in place, it may be worth seeking professional advice to see how your wishes can be dealt with and ensure that the people that you want to benefit from your digital estate (and everything else too!), do indeed inherit.
Keep it up to date
Keep your list up to date, continually review it and as you create a new account…add it to the list straight away!
Some of the times that you may want to review your list:
- Creating an account
- Changing a password
- Deleting an account
- Renewing / amending a subscription
This list is a work in progress and the more regularly it is kept up to date, the easier it will be.
If you would like to have a free chat about your Estate Plan, on your existing Will or in relation to making a new Will, please contact us on info@TotalLegacyCare.co.uk or 01727 865 121
Leah Waller
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