These can present quite a challenge on death, as including:
Computer;
tablet/iPad;
mobile telephone;
social media; and
Dropbox and other facilities.
The key thing of course is what happens with what is likely to be a variety of passwords. These would give typically your Executors continuing access to your email account(s), as well as those you use for a whole variety of associations and memberships, and so on.
Then there are important records such as collections of photographs, ideally stored in the Cloud (where, as with all Cloud accounts, you should give careful thought as to who has the authority to deal with the particular account).
The account provider may have its own systems/rules: for example, Facebook allows you to appoint a ‘legacy contact’.
Not all digital assets constitute property rights, so forming part of your estate to be administered by your Executors in the ordinary way. Hence your Will should also give your Executors an express power to deal with ‘non-property digital assets’ – assuming that, alternatively, you don’t appoint a digital manager to do the job.
So, at the very least, leave a clear note on the whereabouts of the passwords required to access your computer and other electronic devices. The best solution is to use a ‘password manager’ to keep all your passwords safely and to keep the single ‘master password’ in an utterly secure place, as notified to your Executors.
Do LinkedIn members have any other suggestions? I’d love to know.
This is the briefest possible guide to what is a hugely important issue, so much so that my Book puts it in the seven point Critical Checklist. You have only to consider what would happen if on your death those who you leave behind have no way of getting into your digital assets …
