Two things in life are certain: Death and Taxes.
Yes we are all going to die. I hate to be melodramatic but it’s a simple fact.
Now the part most people don’t think about is that digital information collection we have today that our successors might need access to. It can be as simple as accessing your computer to get photos for the funeral to accessing your accounts and seeing what is there. Never mind the potential of some not so obvious assets like crypto currencies etc that usually require dual factor authentication to access that often is tied to a cell phone etc.
I’ve have been asked to get into computers because someone died and didn’t leave a password. I have been asked how to access an account after the cell phone has been disabled because they figured it wouldn’t be needed any more.
The pandemic has caused a lot of people to start thinking about wills etc that never even considered it before. While doing that, put some thought into a digital succession plan.
Fortunately, banks are the easiest to deal with provided you have the necessary documentation. Investment firms usually are straight forward too provided you have knowledge of the account information. It can be the rest of the assets to deal with. Everything from gracefully shutting down Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media to closing off subscriptions to various services like MS Office, Adobe, etc. Crypto currencies are more challenging. They, by their very nature, are more obscure and most people don’t go bragging that they have such accounts.
If you use a password manager, it may be as simple as providing a copy of the master password with whomever stores your will or has power of attorney for you.
Mental health also comes into play, as we get older, we forget what we have and where. Make a list while you are capable. Who has what accounts, life insurance, etc. Encrypt it if you want ( I do recommend it), set a schedule in your calendar to review its accuracy and provide a couple responsible people with knowledge of where the file is and access to the encryption key so they can access it if needed. A good discussion for your family and your estate planning team regardless of your age.
Today, most of this is new territory for most people, including many lawyers and financial planners included. I’ve dealt with more of it since covid than I have in the previous 24 years I’ve been in business. The scope of what is involved is increasing as we have more on our computers than we ever did. Paper statements are a thing of the past so often, we need to find this information on our computers.
Be proactive and deal with it while you can, make plans just like you do a will. Your family will thank you.
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