Kansas and Missouri Estate Planning

Where can I Get Help to Securely Organize and Store My Digital Assets?

This seems to be a popular question.

Why?

I think it is because we are all wanting on-demand, 24/7/365 access to our important documents, data and information from anywhere in the world.

Some have called such storage a "smart vault." 

Enter a recent article in US News titled "Passwords and Powers of Attorney: Your Digital Estate Planning Options."

According to the article, when it comes to estate planning there are new companies springing up to meet this demand to gather all the information our heirs will need in one place.

These services provide prompts to encourage users to think about issues they have yet to document.

For example, what kind of music would you like played in your final hours of life or at your funeral?

There are several companies that let you create a digital repository of your will, health care directives, funeral wishes, family photos, plans for your pet, desires for your Facebook page, and what you would want included in (or excluded from) your obituary.

Benefit?

You can document your instructions and wishes now so your family can easily access (or share) them when the time comes.

So, what are some first steps?

Talk with your family about your end-of-life wishes, then record your wishes and, finally, make it easy for family members to find them when needed.

Also, you can choose whom you authorize to access specific information and whether you want to share it now or not until after you have passed on.

The goal of these smart vaults?

To make an already difficult time and process as easy as possible for heirs by having this information all in one online place.

Most online sites act like toolkits by providing places to upload wills, trusts, health care directives, powers of attorney and appraisals of your valuable items. In addition, such sites also provide ways to record the location of notarized and signed copies of documents, as well as the contact information for your estate planning attorney.

As with everything in a market economy, charges vary with these services.

In addition to estate planning functions, they all have options for sharing all the aspects of your digital life, from passwords to bank accounts to the message you want sent to your Twitter followers after you have passed away.

All that noted, everyone's situation is different.

Although these smart vault services are useful tools, no online service can replace the advice of an experienced estate planning attorney who understands your specific situation.

In the end, proper estate planning is not a do-it-yourself project. 

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: US News (December 3, 2015) "Passwords and Powers of Attorney: You're Digital Estate Planning Options"

How do I Plan for My "Digital Assets" in My Estate Plan?

My, this is become a hot topic.

And this topic appears to be of special interest to Millennials who are contemplating their own morbidity and mortality, perhaps because they have grown up so tech-savvy.

Many of them have quite an investment in their "digital portfolios," too.

Enter Andrew Magliochetti in a story reported in the New York Times titled “Plan Your Digital Legacy, and Update Often.”

Albeit still in his 20s, Andrew had his will prepared.

While planning for his other earthly stuff, his will made provisions for his digital assets, to include digitized family movies, social media accounts, digital currencies and domain names.

What about the url addresses, user names and passwords to such digital assets?

Andrew stored his passwords, including those for Facebook and Twitter, on a password manager his executor under the will (i.e., his brother) could easily find and access.

Then, Andrew uploaded family photos and movies to a file-hosting service so they would be easy to share.

Unlike Andrew, many folks who should know better fail to include digital effects in their estate plans.

Consequently, these potentially valuable assets may go unnoticed and cause unnecessary time (and money) to be wasted attempting to find them.

There are some assets like digital currencies that exist only in cyberspace.

Think video game characters and Internet domain names.

Unlike that ceramic bullfrog collection, you cannot put these intangible assets in a safety deposit box.

What about your Facebook photos or email addresses?

Getting postmortem access to social media accounts can be difficult because laws governing digital assets vary by state. Online sites concerned with user privacy have drastically different terms and conditions that sometimes exclude executors.

What to do?

Create an inventory of your online accounts and their passwords, but do not include them in your will.

Why not?

Practically speaking, you will cannot be changed every time you change your online account information.

Simply explain how you want each account handled if you die, with the terms and conditions for each site included. Save this inventory in an encrypted file, a safe, and with your estate planning attorney.

Feel free to go ahead and download the Virtual Assets Instruction Letter (VAIL) we provide to our clients as part of their estate planning.

You should also authorize your executor to obtain access to devices and online accounts and to reset passwords.

Be sure to store your photos on a computer or local storage device rather than relying solely on an online site. This step will make them easier to retrieve.

Better yet, save them on two storage devices in separate places, like a home safe and perhaps even your attorney's office.

Some assets are just incapable of being passed on to heirs.

For example, your ckassic rock iTunes library cannot be passed to your loved ones as digital music and your e-book purchases are nontransferable.

Why is that?

Because they are personally licensed to you as the user. You can only leave these assets if a user agreement permits it.

Contact an experienced estate planning attorney to help you cover all of the bases with your estate planning. 

So, how do you find an "experienced" estate planning attorney?

First, ask around. Friends, family and other professional advisors are trustworthy sources.

Second, conduct an "organic" search on "Google" for "estate planning" near you (e.g., "Estate Planning Anytown MoKan").

Third, either way, verify. Check out the education, experience, ratings and client reviews of any attorney before you contact him or her.

How?

There are two helpful resources just a mouse click away to assist with your due diligence:  Avvo.com and Lawyers.com.

Check any Avvo ratings, client ratings/testimonials and attorney endorsements on Avvo.com and any "peer ratings" by judges/other attorneys and any client ratings/testimonials on Lawyers.com.

In fact, I use both of these services to thoroughly vett attorneys before referring members of our "client" family for legal help in other areas of law or for matters in jurisdictions outside Kansas or Missouri.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: New York Times (November 11, 2015) “Plan Your Digital Legacy, and Update Often”

How do I Plan for My Digital Assets in My Estate?

Would you believe the average online American has 25 accounts, according to a Microsoft study. Would you believe that 72% of us have an online presence or use social media.

Wow.

We are a plugged in people.

And that has estate planning ramifications, too.

What happens to your online life when your earthly life ends?

Not surprisingly, many web platforms already have postmortem policies in place and you need to know about them.

In addition, uniform state laws are likely coming down the pike as well. 

As reported in a recent Philly.com article, titled “Social Media After Death,” in many instances management of social media accounts after an individual passes away are handled by the executor of the estate.

Why?

Because digital assets are really part of the estate and, consequently, they should be treated like any other assets by the executor. 

Not so fast.

Depending on where you live, the issue of digital asset management may also be further complicated.

Currently, there are 19 states with laws on the books protecting digital assets and how they are handled after you die. 

In addition, as I hinted above, there are some advocates trying to standardize the manner in which digital assets are handled across the states.

The Uniform Law Commission (UFC) is working on this.

Nevertheless, until this legislation is adopted, the original article suggests that you talk with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Your attorney will have the latest information regarding how the digital assets of a decedent are handled in your own state. 

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri), visit my estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.  

Reference: Philly.com (July 24, 2015) “Social Media After Death”

Is Your Vail Up-to-Date?

When you read that cryptic headline you may have thought "what is Kyle talking about now?" And, you would be right in thinking thusly ... as a first reaction.

However, this is a very serious matter.

Especially in this digital world.

Quick!

If something happened to you today, would your loved ones know what to do with your online life?

Would they be able to access the user names and passwords to all of your online accounts and take care of your financial business, let alone administer your estate according to your wishes? 

If no, then you are at risk of leaving a big, old mess for your loved ones to clean up.

May I make a suggestion?

First, get your fundamental legal documents in ship-shape. 

That means, at a minimum, your "general durable power of attorney" appointing your financial incapacity agents, your "advance health care directives" appointing your health incapacity agents, and your "last will and testament" appointing the personal representatives of your estate.

Then, once you have your legal "ducks in a row," create your VAIL.

No, this is not that great place to ski in Colorado, it is an acronym for Virtual Asset Information Letter.

In the absence of your VAIL no one you know and trust will be able to access your essential online accounts (and even social media) without your user names and passwords.

In fact, this was the subject of a recent article titled “Estate planning in a digital world” from The (Bend OR) Bulletin.

So, what exactly is a Virtual Asset Instruction Letter?

Basically, a VAIL is a document in which you can list your online accounts, the passwords for each one, and instructions explaining what, if anything, should be done with the content of each account.

There is a catch, as the article cautions.

Even if the folks you are providing this essential information have your permission, they may be violating the law.

Yikes!

It seems there is a 30-year-old federal statute still on the books called the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

1986? Have computers come a long way since then, let alone that thing called the "internet"?

I digress, but you were right with me if you caught the date of that federal law.

 

This law threatens criminal penalties for people who access online information “without authorization” or in a manner that “exceeds authorized access.”

Unfortunately, this federal law does not define what either of these terms means. 

To make matters even muddier, the same ambiguity exists in the Terms of Service Agreements used by many online service providers. [You know, the huge documents we just scroll through and check that little box or click "accept" indicating that we have read and understood all of the blah, blah, blah?]

Problem: These Terms of Service Agreements can serve as a tripwire to snare your well-meaning loved ones with civil and criminal penalties for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

As reported in the original article out of the Pacific Northwest, it seems the good folks up there are busily working on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act through the Oregon Legislature this session.

The UFADAA makes it clear the executor of an estate, court-appointed guardian or conservator, or trustee or another fiduciary has the authority to access online accounts to gather and distribute digital assets, prevent identity theft, and console loved ones with images and stories posted on social media. 

Oregon’s UFADAA would not create a new law, as such, but it would update the state’s existing fiduciary codes to cover an individual’s digital assets.

Kansas and Missouri are considering the UFADAA themselves and, in total, about 28 states are at some stage in the process as well. 

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend visiting myducks.org for helpful tools and resources to get (and keep) your estate organized from stem to stern.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website. 

Reference: The (Bend OR) Bulletin (May 29, 2015) “Estate planning in a digital world”

Digital Asset Planning Update

Your bricks and mortar, cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and tangible personal property aside, do not forget to plan for your "digital" assets. Over the past few years I have written about the need to plan for your "digital" assets. However, this remains a dynamic practical and legal consideration for every estate plan.

So, have you made plans for your digital assets?

Sidebar: Had made I posed that same question fifteen years ago, would you know what I was talking about?

I mean digital assets are the fingers on the ends of our hands and the toes on the ends of our feet, right? You know, the digits that can be "real assets" when it comes to "ciphering" like Jethro Bodine on the Beverly Hillbillies sitcom each week.

I digress. 

Today, we know that digital assets include online accounts, to include bank accounts, social media accounts, and photography accounts. In fact, think of these as part of your digital estate.

A recent kcra.com report, titled Have you planned your digital afterlife?, reminds us that your digital estate can cause real headaches for grieving loved ones when they attempt to access those accounts.

Question: Have you made a list of your accounts and passwords? If yes, have you let your trusted loved ones know where they can find them? 

Once you have made that list and shared the location, do a little digging on the institutional policy of the each online service regarding actions taken when an account holder dies. 

Here are how Google and Facebook handle postmortem access protocol:

• Google offers an option whereby trusted contacts can access a user account or to have the data deleted after a specific periods of inactivity.
• Facebook recently started the “legacy contact” option, which lets their users select someone to manage their pages after death. If a user does nothing, and Facebook discovers that the individual has passed, his or her posts will remain active and “memorialized” according to that user’s settings.

As the original article notes, it is important for you plan ahead and put someone in charge of your digital assets postmortem.

While you are at it, your digital estate planning should include your digital devices, like cellphones and laptops, along with the data they contain. Pictures, music, videos, and documents make up our digital life, too. Make sure you are prepared to pass those on as desired.

An experienced estate planning attorney can help guide you through this process.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website. 

Reference: kcra.com (February 27, 2015) Have you planned your digital afterlife?

Social Media: Planning Your Digital Estate

Do you have any digital assets related to your relationships (think Twitter or Facebook) and responsibilities (think online banking)? If yes, then what happens to those assets when you die?

Have your done your digital estate planning?

This was the subject of a recent Smart Company article, titled "The business of digital life and death." 

According to the article, some 70% of 65-74 year-old Americans are on Facebook, and there are 30 million accounts belonging to folks no longer alive.

Not surprisingly, a growing concern among those wishing to properly manage their estate is making proper plans in the event of "digital" death.

The notion of digital death raises questions like what is an "asset" or a "special relationship," let alone how to balance privacy and security with passing on relevant information.

The article cites several factors to consider when dealing with digital assets. For example, there are no international standards on digital assets or for how to address them via estate planning.

Again, social media has not been a burning issue in estate planning as of yet. On the other hand, as younger generations begin to plan for the future, then it will become more relevant for them as they already are prolific users (owners?) of digital assets. How many more with the have over their lifetimes?

It seems every social media platform has a different approach to dealing with the death of one of its users.

Take Facebook, for instance. It protects the privacy of the deceased by securing the account and permitting a family member to request the account be removed or memorialized. In an attempt to balance sharing and privacy, Facebook has introduced a Look Back feature that can create a video of favorite moments that may be viewed but not shared.

For its part, Twitter is open to dealing with an immediate family member or estate representative to deactivate an account.

Google developed an "inactive" account manager. This gives an individual access to your Google account if you die. In addition, it allows you set up a deadline in the event you do not use your Google account for a period of time. If that deadline passes without account activity, then Google will notify and allow your designated inactive account manager to access select parts of your account.

In an attempt to prevent illicit use of real accounts, social media platforms are typically moving to policies that validate family members with certified copies of death certificates, so a loved one can account for those assets and close the account.

Despite clear instructions and policies about digital closure, the original article warns that it can be a laborious task. Work with your estate planning attorney to get the most up-to-date information on digital assets and how to coordinate them with your estate planning documents. In the very least, leave an up-to-date list of accounts and passwords for your estate representatives ... and let them know where you keep the list.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website.

Reference: Smart Company (August 27, 2014) "The business of digital life and death"

Uniform Law Commission Tackles "Digital" Estate Assets

What happens to digital accounts after someone passes away? This has become a hot button issue in estate planning and technology law. In fact, I have posted multiple times on this subject this year.

Currently, most states do not have laws granting executors or others access to digital accounts of a decedent. This means access is determined by the terms, conditions and privacy policies of the technology companies operating the websites hosting the digital assets.

This has caused headaches for many families attempting to wrap up a loved one's digital affairs.

The Uniform Law Commission has come up with a plan called the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act that, if adopted by the states, could help end this problem. However, as National Public Radio notes, in a recent article titled “A Plan To Untangle Our Digital Lives After We're Gone,” the idea is not popular with all technology companies.

The Commission states that its proposal would give an executor access to accounts in the same way that a family has access to real world items, such as photographs and letters. However, technology companies say the proposal could create privacy concerns for third-parties as their communications with the deceased would be accessible.

It is clear something needs to be done about the problem with the digital accounts of decedents.

Some technology companies, such as Yahoo Japan, have taken steps to allow account holders to choose who has access to what after they pass away. Other companies are waiting for legal solutions. Still others are satisfied with the current landscape.

Regardless what happens in the future on the legal side as affects how your digital accounts will be administered postmortem is something you need to address in your estate plan.

In the very least, make a list of your digital assets (e.g., email accounts, financial accounts, websites, etc.) and record the login/password information. Then, make sure this list is accessible to someone you trust when needed.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website.

Reference:  National Public Radio (July 23, 2014) “A Plan To Untangle Our Digital Lives After We're Gone”

Planning Your "Digital" Estate

Most people today have numerous online accounts. Likely you do, too. So, what happens to your online digital life when you pass away?

Our digital lives include email accounts for work and personal use, bank and investment accounts, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and maybe even our own blogs (you are reading one right now) or website. If you check the respective privacy policies, then you will notice that most hosts will not give out any information about your accounts without your prior permission and some will not give out information without a court order.

So, what happens to your online, digital life when you pass away?

As reported in a recent New York Times article titled “How to Digitally Avoid Taking It to the Grave,”  if you do not plan ahead regarding how someone else can access your accounts after you pass away, then you risk the loss of those accounts.

Accounts you would want to carry on might disappear. It depends on the policies of the sites where you have accounts. Some states have passed laws granting executors access to digital accounts after the owners pass away and there is an effort underway to pass a uniform law in every state.

Teaching point: until the law catches up with today's current digital environment, you need to have a plan.

At a minimum, you should make sure that a list exists of your digital accounts. You should make sure someone will be able to find the passwords for those accounts.

You also need to store that information somewhere it can be found by someone you trust.

This could be done by including that information in your last will or trust, but that could make updating the digital information cumbersome on a practical level. You could also give that information to a trusted individual before you pass away. You do not need to tell them now what your passwords are. You just need to tell them where to find the information.

Whew.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website.

Reference: New York Times (July 2, 2014) “How to Digitally Avoid Taking It to the Grave”

Estate Planning For "Digital" Assets

True or false: The Internet is increasingly becoming the main storage depot of our financial lives? Well, a recent survey from Pew Research revealed that 51% of American adults bank online, and 32% bank using their mobile devices.

With almost nine out of 10 Americans using the Internet, there is a strong need to include digital assets in estate plans, whether in Overland Park or elsewhere.

As a recent article in the Wall Street Cheat Sheet titled "Estate Planning 101: Don’t Forget About Your Digital Assets" notes, digital assets can hold both financial and sentimental value to family and friends, Consequently, digital assets should be addressed in the estate planning and administration process.

Problem.

First, you must find the decedent’s digital property and identify which digital property is valuable or significant. In addition, there are passwords, encryption, computer crime laws, and data privacy laws to deal with, any one of which can make it nearly impossible to do anything with the digital property.

In order to protect your digital assets, the Wall Street Cheat Sheet article recommends including them in a will or trust and designating a fiduciary to execute your wishes. It also recommends that you should add a provision in your estate plan granting your fiduciary access to your online accounts and data in the event of your incapacity or death.

Completing an inventory of your digital assets is the initial critical step in this process.

Include usernames and passwords for your electronic devices, bank accounts, utility accounts, email accounts, insurance plans, and any other significant online accounts used frequently. Also, if there is information you do not want disclosed to family and friends, you should give instructions in your estate plan regarding how that information should be handled.

The will should contain only the instructions on where to find a written list of your usernames and passwords, such as in a safe deposit box. The article reminds us that even social media websites (e.g., Facebook) should be included in your inventory list, if they hold sentimental value.

Think about all of the information you have stored online—plan ahead and talk to an estate planning attorney about digital assets and other estate planning strategies.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website.

Reference:  Wall Street Cheat Sheet (May 19, 2014) "Estate Planning 101: Don’t Forget About Your Digital Assets"

So, Have You Prepared Your Digital Estate Plan? / Overland Park, KS

If you have an estate plan, chances are quite good you made specific arrangements for assets like your home, life insurance, retirement funds and perhaps even a business interest. What about your “digital assets”? Have you made proper arrangements for them?

The problem of the digital estate is an entirely 21^st century problem, in Overland Park and elsewhere.

Thankfully, more information is coming to light about the consequences of failing to make plans for digital assets. If this is a new subject matter for you, then you will want to read a recent MarketWatch article titled “Who gets your digital fortune when you die?”

Basically, your digital “fortune” includes all of those digital assets that make up your digital presence. There are the social and practical ones, like e-mail accounts, Facebook accounts, and whatnot. From there your digital estate may include assets with real monetary value, like PayPal or eBay accounts, investment accounts, full bank accounts, and maybe an online-only bank account or two. While we are at it, remember the accounts that themselves represent your ownership of digital “goods,” to include that massive Kindle library or an iTunes account. What happens to these?

Without proper planning, your digital assets can easily become loose ends, losses and even liabilities. Unless you leave instructions behind, how will your heirs inherit your digital estate (let alone know it even exists)? There is no time like the present to get your digital ducks in a row.

Speaking of getting your "ducks in a row," check out www.myducks.org for a nifty organizing tool to help you get your digital assets organized.

Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your financial, tax and estate plans, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage competent professional counsel.

For more information about estate planning in Overland Park, KS (and throughout the rest of Kansas and Missouri) and to download free tools to help you organize your estate, visit my estate planning website.

 Reference: MarketWatch (January 10, 2014) “Who gets your digital fortune when you die?”