South Florida Estate Planning Law : Florida Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : David Shulman Law Firm : South FL Wills & Trusts

Dennis Kennedy has written a fantastic article for the American Bar Association's magazine, Law Practice Today. The article, entitled "Estate Planning for Your Digital Assets" sets forth a simple five-step plan to manage your digital estate.

I had previously written about Estate Planning and Digital Assets, in which I was critical of companies like Legacy Locker, because I believed (and still do), that they could impermissibly bypass the probate process, and cause conflicts as to which of a decedent's beneficiaries is entitled to certain online accounts.

Dennis's article does not mention those services, but instead, instructs testators and attorneys how they should do it themselves. According to the article the five step plan is:

1. Inventory Your Digital Assets.
2. Identify Appropriate Help.
3. Provide for Access.
4. Provide Instructions.
5. Give Appropriate Authority.

For more, see Dennis Kennedy: Estate Planning for Your Digital Assets.

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Like many people today, I love the Internet. It is a great business, social, and financial tool. I am member of a number of various discussion forums (legal, technological, social, and personal), have a Facebook Account, a twitter account, multiple email addresses for business and personal use, and  now have friends all over the world, many of whom I've never met

Additionally, in managing my personal finances, I try to live a paperless life as much as possible. I probably physically write less than 10 cheques a year, and sign up for paperless billing for every account that offers it. I wish that I could produce digital Wills and Trusts for my clients, but the law hasn't caught up with the technology yet, but that's a topic for another time.

I'm sure that many of you reading this are nodding your head in agreement because you are just like me. But have you ever thought about what will happen to your online life after you die?  The process of administering your estate or your trust upon your death involves gathering your assets, paying your creditors, and then distributing the assets to the beneficiaries. Generally when someone dies we file a form with the US Post Office so that the decedent's mail is forwarded to their personal representative, trustee, or to the attorney administering their estate. Most banks, credit card companies, brokerages, etc, send a monthly (or at the very worst quarterly) statement. Thus, it's not that hard to figure out what the decedent owned (and owed).

More after the Jump

UPDATE: Jeremy Toeman of Legacy Locker responded to this post and his comment and my response are in the comment section below.

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