Unfortunately, it is due to the passing of a good friend that this topic is somewhat coming up in my life. Coincidentally I also stumbled upon an article about this very topic today and it spurred an investigation. I'll skip to the bottom line, if you have any data, images, storage, websites, blogs, profiles on networks or anything online anywhere, you need a digital estate plan.
For example, did you know it is illegal for someone to log into your account at Facebook after you pass away to remove your site or change it in any way even if you've asked them to? There is a setting asking if you want to assign someone to be a legacy contact and take limited control of your account upon your death which then has to be verified to Facebook and depending on other items you've selected, the page will be taken down completely or memorialized. You should also let your family know if you have chosen to have it taken down because it may serve their grieving period to leave it up for a while before reporting it, which they may do thinking it will remain for them to visit. Once reported if you have asked for it to be deleted then it will be. What about the family pictures, your blogs, your comments and so forth? They will be all gone in this case.
Other than networks which vary in policy from site to site and should be looked into on a case by case basis, there are photo sharing sites, blogging sites, cloud storage, email accounts, websites, website names, applications, cloud software programs like Adobe, game sites, shopping portals, credit card processing, banks, or payment sites like Pay Pal, frequent flyer miles, credit card rewards and the list goes on, all requiring some sort of action upon your death. Without the right plan, assets may not be properly accounted for in your estate, funds may be frozen indefinitely, digital work may be lost and if a loved one tries to access a site that prosecutes for anyone other than the account holder to access that account, there could be long term serious legal ramifications!
Every site, and every agreement to use anything on the internet of things differs from all others and each account needs to be researched accordingly to find out what the terms of the site or application usage is in regards to your account. Laws that may affect these terms also vary from state to state.
I've attached a few articles that might be helpful on the subject below. Each of them offers at least one or more items not covered in the other articles. Often overlooked items like pin numbers, honoring contracts to not issue them or passwords, warnings, dangers and tips can be found but I am suggesting you need to talk this over with your estate planner or attorney.
Now is the time to think about it if you have anything you care about or that has value, anywhere online.
Copyright 2015 Wanda Hope Carter all rights not otherwise assigned are reserved no downloading, publishing in part or whole, framing, copying, or other use other than linking by URL address is permitted without express written permission.
*This NAEPC pdf won't post below - https://www.naepc.org/jou...
Thanks for posting!