If you’ve made a Will, or explored making a Will, you know what an estate plan is; they set out the assets that you possess, and how you wish for them to be divided after your death. digital estate plans, however, are a much more recent development, and therefore their details and importance are less of a familiar topic. A digital estate plan is a plan that sets out the digital assets you possess, and how you wish for them to be divided, and includes anything online. These digital assets include:
- Email accounts;
- Social media accounts;
- Online banking accounts;
- Online shopping accounts;
- Online subscription accounts;
- Online photos;
- Online documents; and
- Cryptocurrencies .
Why You Should Make a Digital Estate Plan
Now that you know what a digital estate plan is, why should you make one? In truth, the amount you need one is dependent on how many important digital assets you possess, and so if you don’t store photos on your phone or computer, have a social media presence, create important documents on a computer or trade in cryptocurrency, you may not need to create a digital estate plan. However, in the modern world, very few people fit into this category, and therefore it should be a consideration that most people take. Furthermore, in much the same way that a traditional estate plan, their goal is to bring you peace of mind, knowing that your digital assets will be protected and divided in the way you wish. For example, you may have certain password-protected family photos on your computer, but without consideration beforehand, they may not be passed to those you love. With a digital estate plan, you can rest assured with the knowledge that your family will have access to them when the time comes. Alternatively, you may wish for personal digital assets to be destroyed, which is also a feature of a digital estate plan.
How to Create a Digital Estate Plan
It is important to note that there is no prescribed way to ensure that your digital assets are taken care of, although there are steps you can take to secure them. Firstly, it is important to consolidate information on all of your digital assets – this includes assessing all of the assets you wish to plan for, as well as any passwords that they may require. While this may be a time-consuming and potentially difficult process, considering many of us have neither records of every account we have made nor every password we have set, it is crucial in order to pass those details onto another person. Next, you must determine how you wish for these assets to be distributed. Some may come as an easy decision (our earlier case of family photos, for example), but others, such as financial accounts, may require more thought, and it is important to come to the correct decision for you. At this point, you are ready to include your wishes in your Will. The assets you wish to distribute should be detailed on your Will but, as the Will becomes a public document after you pass away, you shouldn’t include any of your passwords or account information on the face of the Will. Instead, you may wish to prepare a separate Letter of Wishes to accompany your Will which has this information but which will not become a public document. We have previously written about the process behind protecting cryptoassets more specifically, and so if this is a topic you wish to explore further, you can read more here.
The Progress of Legal Digital Estate Planning
Since the Computer Misuse Act 1990, it has been considered an offence to access deceased person’s digital devices without authorisation. Recently, there has been progress in making a legal system to allow elected persons, such as Executors or family members, to access computers or phones upon the owner’s death. This comes in the form of the Digital Devices (Access for Next of Kin) Bill, which most recently passed through the second reading in the House of Commons in 2022.
If you have questions about digital estate planning, don’t hesitate to contact us here.
