your digital legacy - caldwell trust company digital legacy.pdf · whether you are 25 or 95, and...

ctrust.com | 941-493-3600 | 2017 Caldwell Trust Company ©

Whether you are 25 or 95, and regardless of how much or how little you use computers and other devices, you possess a valuable digital legacy that you may not even be aware of. You have probably put significant thought and discretion into developing your estate plan for your financial assets and personal property. Now is the time to give the same attention to your digital assets. Your digital assets are not just hardware, like a computer, tablet or smartphones; they also encompass electronic property that is both personal (photos, music, and social media) and business (financial and other records, company data and e-money and more). If you don’t make a plan for what will happen to these, perhaps intangible, but certainly valuable, elements of your estate, your heirs may be unaware of important documents or family mementoes that could have meaning to them.

Sound overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be. At Caldwell Trust, we are aware that your digital assets, whether personal, business or financial, are essential components of modern, comprehensive estate planning. We can help you develop your digital estate plan just like we ensure that all your other documents, from health care proxy, to power of attorney, and a basic will, are ready and in place.

YOUR DIGITAL LEGACY5 Steps To Safeguard Your Electronic Estate

1. Inventory your digital assets and online presence2. Safely store your digital information3. Secure the access and safety of your email correspondence4. Choose the right person to oversee your plan and review them on the details5. Revisit your plan often

The 5 Steps explained in this document:


Until recently, your heirs did not even have a categorical right to your digital assets and secure online account. Each technology provider defined its own rules covering access, and those were set mostly for online security and privacy. Without already knowing your passwords and logins, family members faced a maze of legal and technical obstacles. However, in 2016 Florida passed the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Acts (the Act). The Act is the first law to address these issues directly and provide some specific guidelines. Its purpose is to give Florida residents the ability to plan for the management and disposition of their digital assets if they should die or become unable to manage their assets, by vesting authorized fiduciaries with the authority to access, control or copy digital assets and accounts.

Fiduciary Access by Law


You probably have not yet given much thought to what happens with your personal and private digital world after you are gone. It’s hard enough keeping track of our own user names and passwords, with their security-focused complexity. Imagine how difficult it would be for someone else to figure out how to access your financial accounts, bill payments, insurance records, and email accounts without explicit instructions. Now is the time to plan who will manage things like your online accounts, the files on your computer or in the cloud, intellectual property in digital form, e-money such as Bitcoin or PayPal, and even your social media presence. Without a detailed roadmap these important, and sometimes eternal, assets can turn into a tangle that others will have to unknot. In the absence of instructions on access and your wishes for placement, your digital legacy may be left hanging in cyberspace. Luckily there is a process that will safeguard your digital legacy and ensure that its management goes according to your wishes. Here are 5 steps to take.

Planning Your Digital Legacy


The process of safeguarding your digital assets starts with gathering information on what

they are and how to gain access. Not many people keep track of their entire digital legacy

as a matter of course. The first thing to do is to gather and keep a list of all your online and

digital accounts with each one’s password. If you are a medium to heavy user of technology

and haven’t done this before, you will want to start the process now so you don’t leave

anything out. Some that are only accessed weekly, monthly or even longer, are easy to

overlook.

Next, identify which accounts are most important and those that are time sensitive. This

means triaging your inventory and identifying the more crucial items and ones that must

be dealt with right away, such as bills, payments, payouts, etc.

1. Inventory your digital assets and online presence


Your inventory of digital assets, complete with logons and passwords, must be made both

safe and accessible. This can be accomplished ‘old school’ by keeping a list on paper and

storing it in a home safe, a safety deposit box, or with your investment planner.

There are also digital solutions out now, and there will be more as the technology evolves.

These include software products, web-based services and digital ‘vaults’ that let you

securely store your digital account information and passwords.

2. Safely store your digital information


Think of someone you know, either personally or in the public eye, who has been unwise

about what they have communicated via email. Consider that the repercussions of that

indiscretion have included exposure, condemnation or worse.

Now, try to recall all the myriad of things that have been stated or exchanged via your

personal and/or business email accounts. There may be some very valuable or private

information within those digital archives.

Even if you are certain that there is nothing to worry about privacy, there are still some

thorny issues about access. Email providers, like Google, Yahoo, Apple and so on, have

entirely different ‘Terms of Service” that apply to the transfer or right of entry to a decedent’s

email account. Plus, as a rule, businesses own the emails on their servers.

Your estate planner can help you decipher the rules of access of your email accounts, assist

with decisions about who gains access to your email accounts, and put this information in

your digital ‘will.’

3. Secure the access and safety of your email correspondence


As you begin to formalize your digital ‘will’ you’ll need name an executor: someone who is capable of handling assets that are digital. This can be the same person you have named in your basic will, but it’s entirely possible he or she isn’t best choice. The selection of fiduciaries for standard estate planning is often straightforward, but your spouse or young child might not be able to deal with the ins and outs of technology. Consider identifying someone you trust who is technology savvy to either handle these matters or to provide assistance to the person who is in charge.

4. Choose the right person to oversee your plan and review them on the details


The digital world moves fast and is full of unexpected changes. From your list of assets and their logons and passwords, to managing new digital assets that haven’t yet been invented, your digital estate plan will need regular updates. In this revisiting there are issues both large and small to assess and update such as:

• Does my plan still make sense and does my fiduciary continue to be the right choice?

• Have my key accounts changed and, if so, have I made them both accessible and safe?

• How do I want my death to be announced in the digital world?

• Have I taken on more digital assets or changed existing ones that need to be directly addressed? In some ways the process of managing and protecting your digital legacy is that same as any other assets. In other ways it requires a new mindset and vigilance. Your estate manager can help.

5. Revisit your plan often


Safeguarding your digital legacy is similar to customary estate planning and also quite different. In brief, the steps to take to protect your electronic estate are:

1. Inventory your digital assets and online presence. Create a list with passwords and decide upon importance. 2. Safely store your digital information in a digital or an actual ‘vault’ or safe location. 3. Secure the access and safety of your email correspondence as it may hold some very personal or valuable information. 4. Make informed decisions about your ‘digital will,’ including your wishes for its ‘afterlife.’ 5. Select the most appropriate person to oversee your digital plan, perhaps with an emphasis on someone who can manage technology. 6. Revisit your plan often. The digital world moves fast and is full of unexpected changes.

Summary

Caldwell Trust CompanyForever adhering to our founding principle which is to give each

client one-on-one attention and care.

Caldwell Trust Company helps families and individuals achieve their financial goals, perfect their personal life legacies, preserve family harmony and provide peace of mind. We’re personal, traditional

and independent. We’re here earning your trust each and every day for generations to come.

TRUSTS & ESTATESEnsuring your wealth fulfills your

goals for the future.

INVESTMENTSGrowing your wealth and making it work for you.

RETIREMENTPreparing you for

tomorrow on your terms.

ctrust.com I 941-493-3600 I Sarasota I 1561 Main Street, 34236 I Venice I 1400 Center Road, 34292A LEGACY OF TRUST FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. NEARLY A BILLION IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT.

your digital legacy - caldwell trust company digital legacy.pdf · whether you are 25 or 95, and...

Documents