Managing your digital afterlife has become a very relevant trend; even the CA legislator is taking great interest in it. CA Assembly Bill AB-691 entitled, “Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act” is expected to soon be enacted into law, and it provides guidance on settling one's digital afterlife. It is aimed to clarify the duties and liabilities of your successor Trustee, Executor, or Durable Power of Attorney Agent in regard to managing not only tangible property, but also digital assets if you are incapacitated, and after you die.

Does your estate plan contain provisions addressing the management of digital assets? It's a good idea to dust off your Estate Planning binder and check on that. If not, it is wise to revise your documents and incorporate these concepts into your planning to ensure you exercise your desired control over how your digital assets are settled; accessed, managed, stored and distributed after you are gone.

Although this was a non-issue only 10 years ago, your Digital Legacy is a hot topic today. Without proper planning/wording in your Trust, Will and Durable Power of Attorney, your Agents will have a hard time gaining access to your online credentials (username and password), and managing your Digital Assets, which generally comprise:

• e-mail accounts and stored attachments, content of social media sites (FB, Pinterest, Instagram)
• the content of laptops, smartphones, tablets
• online document storage (Google Docs, OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud, YouTube)
• blogs (WordPress, Blogger)
• recurring subscriptions to online services and products
• online banking and investing
• online gaming
• fundraising sites
• your personal and professional hosted websites, advertising, cloud computing services, and domain registrations

Contact The Law Offices of Maria N. Jonsson, Trusts & Estates in Marina del Rey, on 475 Washington Boulevard. Contact us to learn more.

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