A Will is no longer a legal document to pass your worldly possessions.
Digital Wills are wills that determine the fate of a person’s Digital Assets once they die. In the digital age, making arrangements for what must happen to an individual’s Digital Assets is as important as making arrangements for their physical and tangible assets.
Of late, people have been wondering what happens to their online accounts once they’re gone. Who takes control of their photographs and videos that hold sentimental value to their family members? Who discontinues subscriptions to online entertainment sites like Netflix, Spotify or Prime Video? Who withdraws money from the third-party payment sites like PayPal and closes the account?
Organizations such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and other Internet giants have come up with legacy policies that let their website users choose what must happen to their account after they’re gone.
But what about those sites for which there are no legacy policies? Can you note down all the user IDs and passwords in a sheet of paper and add it to your Estate Plan? Definitely not! You must be aware that Wills go public after the demise of an individual. This means, any sensitive information such as passwords also go public if included in the Estate Planning Document.
A Digital Will may just be what you need to protect your privacy rights and ensure your digital property is properly transferred.
How to create a Digital Will
You can create a Digital Will and leave instructions as to how your family members or beneficiaries must handle your online accounts.
Make an Inventory of all your Online Accounts.
Create a list of all sites where you have created an account. This can be social media sites, gaming profiles or any other accounts such as online shopping and magazines. Make sure to list accounts that hold monetary values such as online banking or brokerage, third-party payment sites and so on.
Leave Instructions
Let your beneficiaries or family members know what you want them to do with the listed accounts (above). Do you want them to close these accounts? Memorialize them? Transfer them? Leave instructions for each of these accounts.
Appoint a Digital Executor
Like how you appoint an executor for your Estate Plan or Traditional Will, appoint one for your Digital Will. This individual, known as a ‘Digital Executor’ will handle your online accounts for you after you’re gone.
Store your Digital Will in a safe place
You Will is useful only when your family members know where to find it. If you are using an online storage service to store your Digital Will, make sure the device used to access this account is available to your beneficiaries after you pass on. You can also consider taking a print out of your Digital Will and storing it along with your other important documents.
Now that you know how simple it is to create an Online Will for your Digital Assets – also known as a Digital Will – start creating one using Clocr.
Sign up with Clocr today and get all the help you need in creating your Digital Will.
