Today, most of our lives exist online – from photos, to emails, social media profiles, and financial accounts. Your whole life can be stored or managed online…… but what then happens to your digital life on your death?
Due to strict privacy laws, it can be almost impossible for your loved ones to gain access to your devices and accounts after your death. This means that fond family memories in photos and videos, vital information related to your life and even monetary assets are completely unrecoverable. However, this eventuality is preventable – there are tools you can (and should) be using as part of a well-considered digital estate plan to protect your loved ones from dealing with the further loss of these assets for good.
What is Digital Estate Planning?
For the sake of your digital estate planning, let’s break your digital ‘assets’ into three categories: ‘Digital Assets’, ‘Digital Licences’ and your ‘Digital Footprint’.
A ‘Digital Asset’ is one that you have ownership of, has monetary value and can be bequeathed in your Will (e.g. share trading accounts, cryptocurrency, investments or domain names). It is important to discuss these assets with your solicitor when giving instructions for your Will and ensure that your executor/s have access to information about your assets. Without information your executor may never know that these assets exist, or how they can be paid to your estate.
‘Digital Licences’ are those that you have exchanged monetary consideration for, but you do not necessarily own, this may include digital books, movies, music, websites, subscriptions and other paid accesses. Despite paying money for these assets, they are often not actually yours because you have bought into a licence agreement rather than outright ownership. Many licences are not able to be passed on to your loved ones, so keep in mind which of your family licences and accounts you are in control of and if your family can go on accessing them after your death.
Your ‘Digital Footprint’ refers to your social media, email and other networking accounts, and includes images and videos you have shared or stored. Often access to these accounts can be lost forever, however some platforms now allow you to do specific estate planning to prevent this.
Apple’s Legacy Contacts
If you have an iPhone and no one knows your passcode, then after your death it is almost impossible for anyone to get access (even your executor). Typically, the only way a passcode lock will be removed from an Apple device is if all information on the device is first erased. All photos, videos, messages, apps and information that may hold significant value to your loved ones is then lost completely.
You can now plan to prevent this loss, with Apple’s introduction of a ‘Legacy Contact’.
A Legacy Contact is someone you chose to be granted access to your device and/or iCloud account after your death. Your Legacy Contact can only then access your device and accounts after your death with their unique access key and a copy of your death certificate.
This is the easiest and most secure way to ensure that someone you trust can gain access to things like your contacts, photos, notes, emails and messages. Financial information such as Apple Pay, and other password-protected data however is kept secure. This feature is available in settings under ‘Sign-In and Security’ on devices with iOS 15.2 or later.
Google’s Inactive Account Manager
Google also allows you to plan who you want to access your information on incapacity or death with their ‘Inactive Account Manager’.
The Inactive Account Manager tool allows users to select an individual to be notified after a set period of inactivity on Google accounts (users have the option of selecting anything from 3 to 18 months).
If your account is detected as being inactive for the period set by you, Google will first notify you, and if you are still unresponsive your trusted contact will then be contacted. Your trusted contact will be provided access information for the accounts you have chosen and sent any message you wrote to them during set up. Your trusted contact will then be able to act on your instructions in relation to the Google products you have provided them access to. This can be particularly important in passing on photos/videos held in your Google Drive, or when you are using Google products such as Gmail or YouTube as part of your business or for generating income.
Social Media Accounts
Some social media platforms, including Facebook, allow users to appoint a Legacy Contact to have varied accessibility and management access after your death. Other social media platforms, such as Instagram, allow executors or administrators to request to close or ‘memorialise’ a deceased person’s profile. Memorialising a deceased’s person’s profile has the effect of freezing the account in time so it will not be deactivated but also prevents the account from being logged in to for safety. This memorialisation preserves your account so your family and friends to access the page as a visitor to remember you.
Your Digital Estate Planning
Now that you understand the difference between your Digital Assets, Licences and Footprint, you should consider what you would (or wouldn’t) want your family, friends or executor to have access to after your death. Each time you access an account, make a note of what you want to happen with it after your death. In doing so you will create your digital inventory with a plan of whether the accounts are to be wiped, frozen or made accessible (and to who).
After careful consideration of your inventory, you must also check with each provider regarding whether they allow for succession planning with the appointment of a legacy contact or other mechanism for access or closure after your death. You should also assess whether you can (or should) provide your personal usernames and passwords to your executor/loved ones by way of a password manager or list kept with your Will or somewhere secure. Sharing passwords can often breach the terms and conditions of providers and you can also run into issues with secure storage of this information, so beware.
It can be overwhelming to consider all your Digital Assets, Licences and Footprint; however, taking active steps to consider these issues, provide instructions and utilise legacy tools during your lifetime can make a world of difference to the people you love after your death. Whilst we can help you to create a Will that best deals with your assets, it is sometimes the loss of sentimental value associated with your Digital Footprint that can be most devastating to those that you love.
As the digital world continues to evolve, so too should your approach to estate planning. For advice surrounding your specific circumstances, assets and estate planning, please call 5221 8777 to make an appointment with one of our experienced Wills, Estates and Commercial lawyers.
Article prepared and written by Courtney Gow, Commercial Lawyer – Wightons Lawyers, Geelong
This article is general information only and is not legal advice or a substitution for such advice.
[Image: Unsplash – kayla-farmer]
