by Mary Brook, Senior Lifestyle Specialist
If you’re a baby boomer or older adult, many of you have already prepared a will and trust as part of your overall estate plan. During this planning process of deciding which child gets Grandma’s china or the set of Matchbox cars from your childhood, an important detail often gets overlooked.
What happens to the online presences of your life or your digital assets? Not just the mass of information, photos, and cute little sayings you built up on Facebook, but your entire online existences. This planning process can be an overwhelming task, but an important part of your life legacy.
Simply stated, a will directs your estate regarding your property when you die or become incapacitated and a trust is needed to protect your estate from the delay and cost of probate court. A trust will also help reduce estate and gift taxes and helps the executor process the estate upon your death. In your will and trust you name a legal representative called the executor. Their job is to carry out your wishes as you laid out in your will.
If you’re a creator—an author, artist, composer, or designer—and have copyrighted intellectual property that produces royalties, you may want to name a digital asset executor. This is someone who will be responsible for managing your digital assets after you die.
Royalties are treated the same as any other property and will need just as much management as the house, car, and other property.
According to the Copyright Act of 1976, amended to include the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, all copyrighted material is protected 70 years after the death of the author. It’s the same for joint contributors. The protection ends 70 years after the last contributor passes.
The role of a digital asset manager is similar to the traditional role of an executor and may even be the same person. Part of the responsibility of a digital asset executor is paying any maintenance fees set up in your digital estate and making sure your digital assets are distributed in accordance to your wishes. Your intellectual property provides support for your loved ones after you’re gone.
To read more about copyrights, Anjelica Davis offers some examples and guidance in her October 15, 2019 article “What Happens to Your Copyrights After You Die?” featured on the Copyright Alliance website.
Once you decide who will manage your online estate, the next step is to make a list of all your digital accounts.
First, create a master list of all your online accounts—a complete record of everything you do online.
According to Evan Carroll, co-author of Your Digital Afterlife, the simplest way is to take an inventory of your accounts. “You don’t want to include these usernames and passwords in the will itself, because it is a public document.” As a start to the process, Carroll suggests making a list of all the websites you use.
Write down the login information, password, username, and even the correct site address to access your accounts. Are you starting to feel overwhelmed? No need to worry; learn how to use a Google service called Inactive Account Manager. This service allows you to set up your digital requests for the data you stored with Google. This feature tells Google what to do with your digital assets after your death. Your digital asset executor will remain able to carry out your wishes you set up with Google. Include the answers to your security questions.
For a step-by-step instruction about Google’s Inactive Account Manager, check out “Inactive Account Manager, How to set up Google’s Inactive Account Manager” by Matt Elliott, April 11, 2013
Second, find out what information your social media accounts require for your digital asset executor. Take a look at your accounts’ Terms of Service (TOS) for a better understanding. For example, in the TOS for Facebook, look at the section labeled Other, Section 5, where it states Facebook allows you to designate a person (called a legacy contact) to manage your account if it’s memorialized.
Only your legacy contact or a person you identified in a valid will or similar document, expressing clear consent to disclose your content upon death or incapacity, will be able to seek disclosure from your account after it’s memorialized. In addition to your social media accounts, don’t forget about your music and audio accounts.
Did you know that when you download a song or a book, you don’t actually own the item? In the blog, “Most Digital Content Can’t Be Passed on to Heirs,” by Sandy Burger, September 17, 2012, Amazon states digital content for the Kindle is “licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider.” The agreement further stipulates, “you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense, or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party.” What does it mean? When you buy a digital asset like a book from Amazon for your Kindle or music from iTunes, you don’t own it, but only lease it. It’s something to take into consideration when planning your last wishes regarding your digital life. What do you want to happen with all your music, books, and podcasts?
Finally, think about these questions as you begin your process of creating your digital estate.
Remember your social media accounts like Facebook can remain online as a memorial of your life. If this is what you want, it must be stated in your will and the digital executor must execute your wishes. Think about all your digital photos? Do you want your family members to have them?
Most of us have accounts that are paid online. Are there any accounts that may be connected to your online store? After you’re gone, how long do you want the executor to maintain your online accounts? Do you want to transfer your accounts to the heirs of the estate?
These are some of the questions that require planning for your digital asset after life. It is time-consuming, but doing the work when you are healthy and have a clear head will make the process easier for your digital executor. If you do the research and prepare a well-thought-out plan, it will help reduce problems after your death.
Mary Brook, Senior Living Specialist, is an expert in the Senior industry with more than 20 years of experience helping seniors and their families with the aging process. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from The Ohio State. She currently holds certifications as an RCFE Administrator, Yoga, Group Fitness, and Personal Training. Her experience as a Life Enrichment and Marketing Director, Director of Resident Care, and Associate Executive Director in several RCFE facilities throughout the United States gives her an in-depth perspective when helping seniors improve the quality of their lives. Reach Mary at mzm.brook@gmail.com.
Thank you for this. What about if I’m an author and have royalties going into an account at my credit union? How do I arrange with Amazon to deposit royalties into my beneficiary’s account instead? And what about my website host and similar on-line accounts. Does an attorney have to notify them of who my digital asset executor is and transfer the accounts to that person?