Have You Planned for Your Digital Estate?

Portland attorney Victoria Blachly said people can avoid the personal, financial and in some cases legal headaches that come with losing access to their online accounts by creating a Virtual Asset Instruction Letter where they list their online accounts, the passwords they use to access each one, and instructions explaining what, if anything, should be done with the content each account holds.

What happens to all of your online accounts when you die? Will your loved ones be able to access them? If so, what should they do with those accounts? There is much to think about when it comes to your digital estate planning.

An article from The (Bend OR) Bulletin, “Estate planning in a digital world,”says that you can avoid personal, financial, and legal headaches by creating a Virtual Asset Instruction Letter.

A Virtual Asset Instruction Letter is a document in which you can list your online accounts and passwords, along with instructions explaining what should be done with the content each account holds. However, the article says there’s a catch. Even if they have permission people are breaking the law when they use someone's password to access their online accounts. There’s a 30-year-old federal statute that’s still on the books that makes it tough in an era of increasing online usage and information. The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 threatens criminal penalties for people who access online information “without authorization” or in a manner that “exceeds authorized access.” But the legislation doesn’t define what either of these terms means.

The article notes that the same ambiguity exists in many online service providers’ Terms of Service Agreements. You know, the huge documents we just scroll through and check that we’ve read without really reading. These terms can mean someone who accesses someone else’s online accounts risks civil and criminal actions for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Folks in the Pacific Northwest are working on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act through the Oregon Legislature during this year’s session. The UFADAA makes it clear the executor of a person’s estate, court-appointed guardian or conservator, or their trustee or another fiduciary has the authority to access the person’s online accounts to gather and distribute digital assets, prevent identity theft, and console loved ones with images and stories posted on social media.

Oregon’s UFADAA wouldn’t create a new law—but would instead update the state’s existing fiduciary codes to cover an individual’s digital assets. Similar bills are being considered by legislatures in Idaho, Nevada, Washington and 20 other states this year.

Talk to a seasoned estate planning attorney to see how digital assets are currently being treated in your state.

For additional information on digital assets planning and other estate planning topics in Houston, please click here to visit my website.

Reference: The (Bend OR) Bulletin (May 29, 2015) “Estate planning in a digital world”