PROTECTING YOUR
DIGITAL ASSETS
5 Easy Steps
PROTECTING YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS:
WHY A DIGITAL ESTATE PLAN?
H
ave you ever stopped to think about what happens to your digital presence — your
Facebook photos or your tweets — once you’re no longer here to manage your
online or social media accounts? You may be surprised to learn that much of your
digital content and social media postings can live on after your death. Without your
account login information, the people settling your estate will encounter delays and
difficulties in taking control of these accounts
ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST
If you don’t have a digital estate plan, you’re not alone. According to a recent survey,
63 percent of people don’t know what will happen to their digital assets when they die.
Making plans for these assets can provide you and your loved ones greater peace of
mind.
Below are five steps to help you create your digital estate plan.
STEP 1: Inventory Your Digital Assets and Instructions on How to Access Them.
Maintain two separate lists: one with your online passwords and the other with your
online user names. (Do not keep all that information in one place — doing so puts you at
risk of identity theft and fraud.) Update these inventories at least once a year or, ideally,
whenever you register on a new site or change a password.
STEP 2: Store the Information in a
Safe Place.
Since your digital inventories contain
personal information that could lead to
identity theft and financial losses, be very
careful about where you store them. Make
sure someone you trust — your spouse,
child, or best friend, as well as the executor
of your estate — knows how to get a hold of
your information. Password-protect these
files on your computer and share them with
someone you trust.
STEP 3: Determine the Terms of Service
for Your Accounts.
Email and social media providers such as
Twitter and Facebook have specific terms
of service that provide the legal baseline
governing access to the accounts (access
rights also vary by state). While you can
control who can access your bank account,
insurance proceeds, and mutual funds, you
may have surprisingly little control over who
can access your digital legacy — unless you
make arrangements ahead of time.
ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST
STEP 4: Decide and Document the Fate of Your Digital Assets After Your Death.
Your will or revocable living trust should document how you wish to distribute your
monetary assets, so you don’t need a separate written plan for the financial accounts
you access online. But you do need to ensure access to those online accounts and
decide how you want all remaining digital assets — Facebook pages, Twitter feeds,
photo-sharing and cloud-based service contents, etc. — to be handled. Determine your
wishes by answering these questions:
• Do you want your social media accounts deactivated after your death, or do you want
them to remain online as a memorial to your life?
• If you want your social media accounts to remain online, do you want to craft a
message that will be posted in the event of your death?
• Do you want prints of cloud-stored photos sent to family members?
• How would you like to handle the contents of your iTunes or Dropbox accounts, or
other online storage service?
ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST
STEP 5: Ensure Your Key Estate
Planning Documents Contain
Relevant Language
The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital
Assets Act (UFADAA) has been written
and will guarantee that a personal
representative/executor has the same
authority over digital assets as the
account holder; is an authorized user of
the digital asset under computer fraud
and unauthorized access laws; and “has
the lawful consent of the account holder”
to access the digital asset. However, this
model law is currently being adopted on
a state-by-state basis. At a minimum,
have your attorney add special language
to powers of attorney for property, wills,
and revocable trusts authorizing access
to your digital assets.
Remember, your digital assets have sentimental, historical, and, in some cases, financial
value. There are likely to be assets you want to preserve, such as videos, pictures, and
music. However, there may also be assets you would like destroyed, such as personal
correspondence or your browsing history. No matter your intention, it will become reality
only if you diligently plan for the future and take action now to ensure that your final
wishes are known.
COMPLETING YOUR ESTATE PLAN
A plan for your digital assets should accompany other important estate planning
documents, including your will or trust; powers of attorney for financial and health
matters; a HIPAA release form that permits access to your health information should you
be incapacitated; and beneficiary designation forms for retirement, insurance, and other
financial accounts.
Our complimentary planning resources covering many of these topics can be found at
www.earthjustice.org/planning
ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST
LEAVING A GIFT FOR EARTHJUSTICE
As you create or update your estate plan, including the plan for your digital assets, we
hope you will consider leaving a gift for Earthjustice. We understand that family comes
first — as it should. But leaving even a small percentage or residue of your estate for
Earthjustice can help ensure for future generations the right to a healthy environment.
USING THE RIGHT WORDS
If you have decided to leave a gift for Earthjustice, we suggest the
following language:
“I hereby give (percentage, residuary, share or specific amount or asset) to Earthjustice,
50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco,
CA 94111.” Earthjustice Tax ID: 94-1730465
Leaving an unrestricted gift to Earthjustice enables us address the biggest challenges
and opportunities we’ll face at the time we receive your gift; however, we also welcome
gifts to support areas of our work, such as wildlife and wilderness protection, healthy
communities, or clean energy and climate change. We would be delighted to discuss
ways to provide for the work you most care about and to create a statement of intent that
ensures your wishes are honored.
If you have left a gift for Earthjustice, we hope you will let us know so we can thank you
and welcome you to the Evergreen Council, a group of exceptional individuals who have
made Earthjustice and protecting our planet a part of their lasting legacy.
For more information:
Tracy Donahoe, Director of Planned Gifts
Linda Coffee, Development Officer, Planned Gifts
50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111
(800) 584-6460 or [email protected]
ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST