Digital Presence Needs to Be Protected

Almost everyone in the Myrtle Beach area has some sort of digital presence. Whether a person has online bank accounts, amazon prime memberships, or social media accounts, it’s hard to avoid a digital presence of some sort. When a person thinks about estate planning, wills and trusts are the typical things that come to mind. But digital estate planning is also something that needs to be considered.

There are many things to keep in mind if a person has a digital presence. First, they need to make a list of all online accounts they have. These include bank accounts, shopping accounts, social media accounts, lottery and gaming accounts, bitcoin, and music accounts. Passwords should also be saved for these accounts and this list should be reviewed regularly. Most people don’t even realize how many online accounts they have until they are all written down.

A person should also print all statements they receive from online accounts at least once/year and file them. These can help family members know what accounts are out there and the contact information for these accounts. A person should designate someone to handle their digital affairs after they pass away and should provide direction as to what to do with the digital accounts.

A legal professional who specializes in estate planning can help their client organize their digital accounts and help them figure out how to include them in an estate plan. An attorney can work through the accounts and offer advice as to how to designate a person to handle the digital assets and how digital assets should be accessed and managed after an account owner passes away.