Protecting Your Virtual Estate

Posted by John B. Palley on Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 in Estate Planning

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I just read this interesting article on smartmoney.com about protecting your VIRTUAL assets after death. It really is something to think about. I see the practical side all the time when clients break into mom and dad’s accounts after death using passwords. They really shouldn’t do that of course! However, it goes well beyond that when you think about all that is tied to your virtual life.

Let’s think about just some stuff that is tied to your virtual world that has actual value:

– Banks

– Stock accounts

– Domain names you own

– Airline and hotel miles and points

However, beyond that most of our world is now linked on-line. If your family has your account information they can turn off the cable TV, make sure your mortgage is current and the list goes on and on.

Plus, should “you” tweet one last time after death!? Your family can take care of that if they know your passwords!

How best to accomplish this? Yes, you can give your estate planning your important passwords. However, there are better ways like using one of the encrypted websites that store passwords for you. I was looking at one the other day that did not charge; lastpass.com. Of course there are many more but you just need one. Thus you need one really good password for it and then everything else can be stored there.

In any event the point is that you should talk to your estate planning attorney about your virtual assets but even more important is making sure your most trusted family or friends know about your on-line world.

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