We live in a digital age. Our bank accounts; investment accounts; credit card accounts; accounts with Amazon, Joss & Main and all the other online stores, have digital access and passwords. And, if you haven’t planned for your digital assets and your passwords, there’s a hole in your estate plan.
Don’t assume that unless it says so, somebody with power of attorney can get access to those things. Don’t assume that your executor, administer or trustee can get to those things.
In this Estate Planning Minute, Wes Coulson, Illinois Elder Law attorney, discusses another common estate planning mistake and why it’s important to plan for our digital assets and passwords.
Common Estate Planning Mistake #16: Failing to plan for digital assets and passwords
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Estate Planning Minute. This is another in our series on Common Estate Planning Mistakes. The one I want to talk about today is, interestingly enough, a mistake made by a lot of people who already even have their Estate Plans in place and believe that they have everything in order.
Here’s the thing, we live in a digital age. Our bank accounts, investment accounts, credit card accounts, accounts with Amazon and Joss & Main and all the people that sell online, have digital access and passwords. If you haven’t planned for your digital assets and your passwords, there’s a hole in your plan.
Don’t assume that unless it says so that somebody with power of attorney can get access to those things. Don’t assume that your executor, administer or trustee can get to those things.
That’s why we have recently added language to all of our estate planning documents to cover all of the situations that may come up where there is a need for somebody on your behalf to have access to those. You could have money in accounts lost, balances due that aren’t paid and keep adding up interest, worse yet, you could have accounts hacked at your tremendous disadvantage.
So, if your estate plan doesn’t address your digital assets and passwords, you need to fix that. You need to see an attorney who is in tune to that and can help. We can help. Thanks.
For more Common Estate Planning Mistakes, visit these articles:
- Common Estate Planning Mistake #4: Assuming that you can always change things later
- Common Estate Planning Mistake #6: Trying to ‘Do it Yourself’
- Common Estate Planning Mistake #7: Failing to include enough powers in a Power of Attorney for Property
“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (877)995-6876 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
