Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 15 August 2015.
Since her husband’s death, several years ago, Jill has become increasingly computer savvy. She enjoys communicating with her friends and family via Facebook and has created an extensive collection of photographs using cloud technology. Jill has also established an email account and has elected to receive bank statements and various monthly invoices electronically.
During her retirement, Jill has also spent a lot of time researching her family tree and documenting her family history using her personal computer.
When Jill consults a solicitor about updating her will, the solicitor enquires about her “digital assets”. The solicitor explains to her that due to the extent of her online presence and the content of her computer, it is important that she consider, as part of her estate planning, a digital strategy.
The solicitor explains to her that her executor will have the power to deal with her assets, including her “digital assets” but that there are a number of practical problems that arise that may prevent her executor from performing their role.
For example, given that her bills are mainly received electronically, there will be no record of these accounts, unless the executor has access to Jill’s email account. Furthermore, if her emails are not monitored, there is a risk of security breach. There is also a risk that her photo collection could be lost and the family history never passed on to her children and grandchildren.
The solicitor advises Jill to comprehensively record all of her social media and online accounts, together with the relevant usernames and passwords, as well as the passwords to access her computer and unlock her smart phone.
It is not appropriate to record this information in her will as it will possibly become the subject of public record, so her solicitor advises her to provide this material in a sealed envelope, to be held in the solicitor’s safe custody facility, with a direction that it only be provided to her executor upon her death, or her attorney, should she suffer a lack of capacity in the future.
The solicitor also advises Jill to investigate the “help” sections of her social media accounts, which sometimes allow a member to “delegate” a user prior to death.
