When you think about estate planning, your physical assets like homes, bank accounts, investment accounts and other personal property may come to mind. But those aren’t the only assets that you need to consider when you’re creating an estate plan.
You also have to include digital assets in your estate plan. This includes things like cloud storage, emails, social media, cryptocurrency wallets, online banking access, subscriptions, loyalty points and photo libraries. All of these accounts can contain valuable or sensitive information, which means you should designate a beneficiary for each of them.
What should you include in a digital estate plan?
A digital estate plan enables you to determine who will have access to your digital assets. It can give your loved ones a clear account of what accounts you have and how to access them. This won’t give them access to your accounts while you’re alive, but you can provide them with the passwords after your death.
Without having clear instructions, family members may not know where to find records or how to access these accounts. It’s important to keep account, username and password information updated so the intended individuals can access them when necessary. In some cases, password managers can be useful for keeping track of everything in digital estate planning.
Some platforms have legacy tools, which can also be useful if you want to ensure the intended person gets access to your accounts after you pass away. The information entered into the platform should match the information in your estate plan.
Because estate planning is complex, it’s crucial that you work with someone familiar with your wishes. This ensures your loved ones have a solid path to follow when you pass away.
