As a Georgia estate planning attorney, I have aided many clients in creating an estate plan that will ensure their assets are distributed in the way they wish. Clients often have an idea of what they want done with assets like real property and bank accounts, but don’t consider their digital assets. In today’s technological world, it’s important to consider the assets you have on your computer and on the internet in your estate plan.
Digital assets can be any of a wide variety of things- your social media passwords, for instance. Right now, it might not seem important to consider if someone will be able to log in to your Facebook account after you pass away, but think about all of the family photos you’ve posted or saved on Facebook that could be lost if no one can access your account. Digital assets could also be anything from a blog to research documents to your Venmo or PayPal account.
Many online services and websites have features you can update in order to provide for your account following your death. Google will allow you to designate a trusted contact who will be provided with the opportunity to download your account data if your account becomes inactive. Facebook has something similar- a legacy contact. A legacy contact can “memorialize” your Facebook profile, pin a post regarding a final message or funeral arrangements, or request your account be taken down. The legacy contact can also download a copy of everything you’ve shared on Facebook.
It’s important, however, that your will and other estate planning documents agree with the settings you’ve put in place online. Georgia law states that the directions you’ve set in place using your online tool override anything to the contrary stated in something like your will. For example, if you stated in your will that your executor could access your emails from your gmail account, but never made your executor your trusted contact on your Google account, your Google account setting could override your will and prevent your executor from accessing them.
As a Georgia estate planning attorney, I have years of experience with assisting my clients in planning for all aspects of their estate. If you have questions about digital assets, or if you would like to discuss an estate plan for yourself, please email me or call my Atlanta probate firm at (404) 445-7771.
