Digital Assets

In the age of technology it should be considered when or where your information online will go after you die. This has been of growing concern to some of the legal profession, who have recently considered including this sort of information in a Will so you can be assured that your information will still be protected after your death. Also, by including this in your Will you can decide on the person you want to manage this information on your behalf.

The assets are of a personal and sensitive nature. They include personal assets, such as those stored on your smart phone or PC, social media assets, which include communications with others as well as videos and pictures, and financial assets, such as online banking. Any solicitor should obtain information on the number of accounts and types of information stored there, any financial accounts such as online banking or paypal, any domain names, emails or blogs. These would all be listed in an appendix and stored with the Will so the relevant information is at hand. Of course, usernames will be required, however passwords could be optional or could be stored in another known location if the client wishes.

A clause within a Will can be drafted to ensure the wishes of the client and the safety of the digital estate are protected in line with the servers’ policies for the personal privacy of the user and third party associates on the account. It could be very prudent to consider including such clauses especially where the law is vague and no legislation has been enacted to regulate this area of the law.