Estate Planning Tampa | Tips for Dealing with Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan
Estate Planning Tampa | If you have a personal Facebook page, an Instagram account, or send personal emails and text messages, then you own digital assets. These assets should be included in your estate plan as much as any other property or possession you own and intend to hand down. Our fast-moving technological times are constantly changing, and that includes wording in a will or estate plan that now includes how to handle digital assets.
What are Digital Assets?
One of the first things you and your estate planning attorney should do is identify what digital assets you possess. Digital assets generally are defined as electronic systems used for creating, sharing, sending, receiving, storing, displaying and processing information on a digital device.
The list of your digital assets likely will include:
- Emails and email accounts
- Texts
- Apps
- Audio files
- Videos
- Photos
- Graphics or images
- Websites
- Blogs
- Social media sites and their content
- Digital currency, such as BitCoin
- Health care records
- Insurance records
- Credit card points, miles
- Software programs, licenses
- Databases
- Financial and legal documents stored in a cloud-based system
- Online banking accounts, including service sites such as PayPal
As a Florida estate planning lawyer, I advise clients in the creation and implementation of plans that effectively express the client’s personal desires regarding the disposition and protection of assets while providing potential tax advantages and security for family and beneficiaries. I help clients prepare their Last Willswhether simple or complex. Without a Will, State law determines who inherits your property. A Health Care Proxy, Living Will and Power of Attorney are all an important part of an estate plan and I work with my clients to put these papers in place. There are many complexities that can affect an estate plan.
Estate taxes must be considered as well as a person’s kinship. Some situations may require the creation of a Living Trust to provide long-term protection from incapacity or to avoid the probate process. Contact me to talk about creating a plan that can benefit both you and those you want to protect and benefit.
