In this Elder Law Minute, Paige Fox explains why digital assets—like social media, online accounts, and cryptocurrencies—must be included in your estate plan.
Hi, my name is Paige Fox. I’m a senior associate attorney here at Dent Coulson Elder Law and I understand these topics are very complex. So, I’m hoping these Elder Law Minutes can bring some insight and some more understanding to both potential clients and current clients. Thank you.
So, in today’s world, our memories, finances, and even our identities are often stored online. Yet during estate planning, online assets are something that is often commonly overlooked. One of the main reasons that that is, is because online accounts, they don’t have titles. They don’t have deeds. Sometimes they don’t even have an ability to name somebody to assist in the event that you are no longer able to act.
That said, I know that when social media first became, you know, more prevalent and Facebook came around and Instagram, there was a lot of case law out there about the fact that after somebody passed away, the loved ones were not able to get access to those accounts. Since the case law was so common, they have since made some changes, at least on the major platforms such as like Facebook, um, and Instagram, where you can name an individual as like a fiduciary role to be able to access your account after you pass away and to control that account whether shutting it down, saving information off of it, saving pictures off of it, etc.
So, it’s definitely important to make sure to look into your individual accounts and make sure that you have individuals named in those roles. And another situation is for online accounts, and it’s often sometimes you will get an email or, you know, a notice that you need to name beneficiaries on these accounts. But it’s also very easy to get that overlooked, especially with things like cryptocurrency and online savings accounts, etc.
So, it’s always important and what I always recommend to clients is that they keep an ongoing list of assets like a spreadsheet of assets with the account number, the financial institution, the type of account, and the owner, and as well as the password and information, and keep that spreadsheet with their estate planning documents so that when the individual who you named to act, whether it’s in the capacity of a co-trustee, a successor trustee, an executor, or a power of attorney, they know exactly where all of your accounts are, and they know how exactly to get into those accounts.
There are various other ways that you can do password protection. There’s different apps nowadays. I prefer Keeper — it’s the app that I use often to store my login information and social media type stuff — but there are various other ways out there.
That said, I highly recommend that when you update your estate plan that you make sure to look into all of your online accounts, social media profiles, and even write a list of assets along with if there’s any special wishes or desires that you would like after you pass away or during any incapacity, whether it is pausing your account, shutting down your account, saving memories, saving pictures off your accounts, etc.
If you have any questions, give us a call at Dent Coulson Elder Law. Thank you.
“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.
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“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 (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
