You may have
decided on who to give your physical assets, but in this digital era, you will
also have to will your digital assets – your online photo albums, your Facebook
Account, your bitcoin wallet, your email accounts, your passwords and the
rest………that’s where your Digital Will comes in.

Death is
inevitable, and preparing for it is unavoidable! But many of us leave the
activity of making a Will pending, till it is too late. We have heard cases of
people dying intestate and the problems that follow – if the financial assets
are not in joint names / having a nominee, there are a host of problems with
Banks / Financial Institutions. If there is an immovable property, a probate
may be a must. And we all know the time and cost of obtaining a probate from the
High Court.

Digital
assets may be valuable intellectual property (IP) and hence planning about them
is important. An example could be that of a Twitter handle of say @SrBachchan.
In case of digital assets, the process is fairly simple, if executed by the
legator before death. And we must ensure that ALL our digital assets are
properly bequeathed so that the survivors are not put to inconvenience at best,
and pain at worst.

However, for
digital assets, there is this extra headache. It has been observed in multiple
studies, that few of us actually download and backup online content in a format
which is easily accessible to those after our death. And different agencies
have different rules for transmission of these assets to the rightful owner;
e.g. in the case of Facebook, parents of a 15 year old girl were refused access
to her account. However, in the case of Yahoo, a Court has overruled their
privacy policy, and allowed the legal heirs to access the deceased’s account.

Is there life after death on Social
Media?

Most Social
Media accounts continue online for varying periods, depending on the service
provider. A Digital Will will ensure that each of your accounts is properly
transferred / memorialised or closed, depending on your instructions.

Creating a Digital Will

A digital
will is an informal document that allows executors to access and execute your
instructions for all your online accounts.
Strictly speaking, it is of no legal value. If you want to transfer rights to
things such as a domain name or a website, it may be advisable to account for
these in your formal will. Certain rights are non-transferable and you need to
identify those, which will expire with your demise. Here are a few steps to
create your Digital Will:

1.  List All Your Online Accounts

Create a list
of all the sites where you have accounts, including social media, photo
storage, email accounts, online banking and brokerage accounts, blogs and
accounts that automatically withdraw from your bank account.

2.  Give Detailed Instructions

Let your
executors know exactly what you would like to see happen with each account. For
example, you may not want your Facebook page memorialised, but you do want your
photo albums shared with loved ones. If you are working on some project or have
a variety of resources which you have painstakingly collected online, decide
what you would like to be done with that. Think about stuff like copyrights
also, if you have created original material.

3.  Select your Digital
Executors

Select a
couple (or more) of mature persons to carry out your wishes after you are gone.
Let the executors know about your Digital Will in advance. Let them also know
how they will find the document on your demise. Be sure to name your executors
in your Digital Will. You may also name alternate executors in case any of one
or more of your executors is unable to serve.

4.  Store Your Digital Will
in a Safe Place

A will is
only useful if it can be found at the right time. If you store the will on a
password-protected device, make sure for that device can be accessed when you
die. Consider printing and signing your Digital Will, and storing it with your
other important personal documents.

Legacy Policies of some popular Websites
/ Portals

Many popular
websites / portals have legacy policies in their Terms of Service Agreement to
handle what will become of your digital footprint after you die. Policies vary
from allowing a named executor to close an account, to continue using your
account or finally how your account may be deleted after a period of
inactivity. It is a good idea to review a site’s legacy policy before drafting
your digital will. The following are a few examples from popular Websites /
Portals:

•     PayPal allows an executor to close a
  user’s account. Remaining funds will be liquidated by a payment to the estate
  of the deceased on production of necessary forms / documents.

•     Twitter does not provide log-in
  information to the executor or the legatee. The only option is to deactivate
  the profile by submitting a form with information on the deceased, including a
  death certificate.

•     Ebay’s user agreement does not allow
  transfer of accounts to others on the expiry of a member. If you need to close
  an account due to death, you should contact their support team and follow the
  process suggested by them.

•     Google’s “Inactive Account Manager”
  allows you to decide how your account is handled if it is inactive for a
  specified length of time. For example, if you have not logged into your email
  for more than a year, the account will be deleted. You can also add up to 10
  trusted contacts, who will receive an email that bequeaths files stored on a
  Google service if your account is left unattended between three and 18 months.

•     Facebook lets family members convert
  the deceased’s account to a “memorialised” status or close the account. Upon
  receiving proof of death, sensitive personal information is deleted and the
  status of the account is changed.

•     Instagram provides an option to
  memorialise an account, which means nobody can log in or change it. To
  memorialise an account, anyone can provide a link to an obituary or news
  article reporting the death. You can also request account closure.

•     For LinkedIn, executors or even
  friends of the deceased can notify LinkedIn that someone has passed away, so
  their account can be closed and the profile removed.

•     iTunes music files, television series
  and films are licensed, rather than owned, and cannot be bequeathed. The right
  to use the files expires with the death of an individual.

Password Managers

Organising a
digital will is essential, but it does take time. One way to simplify and
automate the process is to use a password manager to collect all of this
information in one, secure place. A password manager like LastPass (there are
several others) safeguards all of your website accounts, and the usernames and
passwords you use to access them. You can also store notes for other types of
important information, and even attach documents and photos for safekeeping.

And with
LastPass, you can designate an Emergency Access contact for your LastPass
account. That means your trusted contact could request access to your vault
should you pass or become incapacitated.

LastPass
thus, essentially acts as your digital will, and allows you to specify your
digital heir, then automates the process of securely transferring that digital
will with all of your passwords and important information to your trusted
contact. Not only do you have the benefit of a password manager that makes it
easy to remember your passwords and login to your online accounts, you can also
enjoy peace of mind knowing your loved ones can access the information they
need in your absence.

Digital Will Generator

Slate.com has
devised an interesting Digital Will Generator – you will find it at –  http://bit.ly/2MGSqHW. Just answer a
few simple questions, fill in the blanks and voila! your Digital Will is ready.
This may well be one of the quickest ways to create your Digital Will instantly.

Now that you
know the importance, have the information and are equipped with the tools, just
go ahead and create your own Digital Will – you owe it to yourself and your loved
ones!