Published on: 27th February 2017

Have you considered your digital assets?

Technology is becoming ever present in today's modern society. Not only do we use it for communication and social media, but also for daily functions such as work, internet banking and shopping. Rarely a day goes by without using some form of technology as we progress through what has become known as the digital age. When you pass away, your online accounts will not automatically shut down and as a result, you will still have a digital presence.

So what does happen to our digital footprint after we pass? How are our accounts identified and distributed after our passing? Our digital assets are valued at approximately £25 billion. Whilst this is an impressive amount, a YouGov poll found that in 2016, 52% of people said that nobody would be able to access these assets when they pass away as they had not left arrangements regarding what should happen to them. There is not yet a legal definition for what constitutes as a digital asset' in the UK however it is said to be any information that exists digitally either online or on a storage device such as a laptop or mobile phone. There are three main types of digital assets:

• Financial: online banking, purchasing accounts such as Amazon, online currency and trading accounts
• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
• Sentimental: personal media files such as photographs or music

Financial accounts will undoubtedly have monetary value and it is therefore vital that provisions are made in relation to the distribution of these accounts. In the same way that you would instruct on the distribution of your estate in your Will, it is important that digital money assets are also accounted for. Providing someone with access to your social media and email accounts can be vital in order to take care of personal effects as well as finances. Social media is used to communicate and store our personal memories and therefore holds great sentimental value. In 2016 Facebook alone had 1.86 billion active users. Approximately 8,000 of these users die every day; as a result of this, Facebook has introduced the legacy contact option, which allows you to nominate somebody to monitor your account after you pass away. Alternatively, Facebook and other social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter can be frozen and memorialised, or removed. It also may be worth noting that not all assets are your own personal digital assets. There are some instances where you are only licensed to use a website's services. A notable example of this is iTunes. Whilst you may hold an iTunes account, it is not transferable after you pass away as the account is not technically owned by yourself. This clause would be stipulated in each company's Terms of Service and it is recommended that you read these before giving instructions on the distribution of your digital estate. Similar to your physical estate in which you use a Will to document your assets, the Law Society has begun recommending that you create a directory detailing your digital assets; what they are, where to find them and how to access them. Without this, your friends and family may not know exactly what digital assets you have. This would aid your executors after you have passed away so they can locate and distribute your digital estate as requested. As a Will becomes a public document after your passing it is not advisable to include sensitive information such as passwords and security questions for your accounts, in your Will. Instead, it would be best advice to store these on a separate sheet with, but not attached to, your Will. Casey & Associates offers secure storage where you can store these in our secure storage facility. We are currently offering lifetime storage for £100+VAT per Will. For this, we will store both your Will and your "digital assets" sheet. We recommend that you give your executors half of your master password and that you write the other half of the master password on your digital sheet which will be sealed and stored with, but not attached to, your Will. At Casey & Associates, we take confidentiality extremely seriously and distribution of these items to your executors would only be possible after sight of both a death certificate and your executors ID. It is also worth considering updating your Will to include a digital executor. Who you wish to appoint as executor for your physical estate may not have the technical capabilities to manage your digital estate. Please click here to book an appointment with one of our Consultants to discuss amending your Will to provide for your digital assets and their distribution. Alternatively, should you wish to enquire regarding the lifetime storage, please click here.

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