How do you want to be processed after your social media pages, smartphone photos, and computer files die? Real estate and money distributions are usually at the top of your estate planning list, but don't forget to leave instructions on your digital account and assets.
Here is a short guide to getting digital material in sequence, and advice on how to handle the accounts of people who left without leaving instructions.
Create a digital command
The law known as the revised fiduciary access law to digital assets enacted by most states, gives selected representatives (such as real estate executors) the authority to manage electronic operations. For specific instructions, we will create a document that governs how online accounts and all digital content will be handled when it dies or becomes incapacitated, and holds it in other real estate papers.
Accessing your account username and password will go a long way to help your representative, but proceed with caution. You need a secure place to list your credentials for all financial institutions and e-commerce stores, insurance contracts, online storage, email, social media platforms, cable and wireless carriers, medical apps, and media subscriptions.
One way to encrypt and store this sensitive information is to enter it all into the Password Manager app. Wirecutter, a product review site owned by The New York Times, recommends 1Password ($3 a month for individual plans, $5 a month for shared family plans) or Bitwarden (free, with in-app upgrades) . Apple and Google have their own free apps that store and store passwords on devices running the software.
If you want analog options, print the list or write everything down in your notebook. Please update. However, make sure the list is locked in a safe home or another safe place, as it is a gold mine for identity burglars.
Don't forget to pay attention to the password and passcode required to enter your Password Manager app, phone, computer, or tablet. Most manufacturers cannot bypass the pincode without erasing the device. Survivors may need a contact list to tell those who have passed, and may need to make the phone more accessible due to the required two-factor authentication code.
Specify a legacy contact
You should consider editing your digital directives and passwords, as well as adding trustworthy people as “legacy contacts” for Apple, Google, Facebook and other accounts. Legacy contacts are those who choose to process the account directly after you are gone.
Apple added legacy communications capabilities to the software in 2021, allowing you to choose the manager of your Apple account to be used on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. To set up, go to your device or Mac system settings, select a name, then sign in and security, then select a legacy contact.
Google has an inactive account manager tool to handle your Google account if you are unable to use your Google account. To set it up, go to your Google account data and privacy settings.
Facebook has legacy contact settings to specify who will manage your profile page, and to delete your account when your company is notified of your death. If you are a site that does not let people designate, and that you have not left any instructions – your executor will usually need to contact the company and request that you delete or commemorate your account (convert to a static page) There is.
Apple, Google and Microsoft are one of those who have an account unsubscribe step on their sites. Like Facebook and other social sites, there is a tool that allows you to download photos and other content from your account before deleting it, just like the Google Takeout feature.
Manage without instructions
On the other side of the process, if you're a real estate agent for someone who didn't plan on digital legacy, your management experience may take more time. However, even if you haven't received instructions, you should be sure to shutter your social media profiles and other accounts to avoid misuse on the Internet.
You must notify social media and other companies to inform financial and insurance companies of their deaths and request that the deceased be closed. This usually requires providing a death certificate, obituary, will (a court-issued document given to the executor of the property), personal identification, and other files. Digitized copies are often accepted.
The Help section of Instagram, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PayPal, X, Yahoo and other sites offers instructions for accessing and closing accounts, like Apple and Google. In many cases, you can request content on your account, such as photos or posts, but this may require you to submit more legal documents to the company.
Managing the digital assets of a person who has passed away without instructions can make difficult times even more difficult.
