Are You Managing and Protecting Your Digital Estate?

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug. 9, 2012 - Contact
Scott Kleiman, Law Firm of Kalis & Kleiman
skleiman@kaliskleiman.com
(954) 791–0477
Kim Sailer, BARD Marketing/PR
ksailer@bardmarketing.com  

Are You Managing and Protecting Your Digital Estate?

Davie, FL – The probate attorneys at Kalis & Kleiman (http://www.kaliskleiman.com/Probate_Wills_and_Trusts) want to know if you are managing and protecting your digital estate. While many clients understand the importance of establishing estate plans, wills and trusts, very few clients consider adding digital assets in their wills; which can cost them and their beneficiaries.

We all know how difficult it is to manage and keep track of all our passwords, user names and accounts. Now imagine if something happened to you and this information is not known or accessible to your loved ones or beneficiaries. They may not be able to access the family bank account, they won’t be able to stop automatic bill payments or stop the cable service, etc.

Technology is having a major impact on estate planning and only a few states have legislation that deals with digital property management after death and there are no real standards that have been established.

Today many people have on-line banking, they pay bills on-line, they download music, movies and books, they upload photos, they have social media accounts, and they have websites and blogs. We also keep our medical records, our tax returns and thousand of personal files on-line or on hard drives. Family members and beneficiary may not even know these accounts exist if not told by the deceased prior. Information is often in several places with the beneficiary unfamiliar where these assets are located and once they find them, they still can’t access because they don’t know the naming and filing conventions the individual used.

Without access to these accounts, beneficiaries of a deceased loved one may need to hire a forensic computer expert / Information Technology (IT) expert or even get a court order to access online accounts and emails.

Steps you should take now to protect your digital estate:

* Document and catalog all the different types of digital assets you have.
* Identify and document the accounts, the user names, the passwords, and the security questions.
* Identify and document what you want your loved ones or beneficiaries to do with each asset.
* Store this information on a hard drive or flash drive.
* Place this information in a secure location like a safety deposit box.
* Update information as needed as data does change.
* Document and let loved ones and beneficiaries know their responsibilities.
* Let loved ones and beneficiaries know where to access your digital assets information

Don’t procrastinate. If you have an existing estate plan without a digital asset plan, update your estate plan immediately. If you do not have an estate plan and/or will, get one to protect you, your loved ones and beneficiaries.

Probate, wills and estate administration procedures are often complicated. If you have digital estate planning, probate, will, or estate planning questions, contact KALIS & KLEIMAN today at 954-791-0506.

The law firm of Kalis & Kleiman focuses on Commercial and Real Estate Law and Wills, Probate and Trusts. The firm was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Davie, Florida, at 7320 Griffin Road, Suite 109. Attorneys, Neal Kalis, M. Scott Kleiman and Olga Ruiz Baken can be contacted at 954.791.0477. Additional information about Estate Planning, Digital Assets and the law Firm of Kalis & Kleiman may be obtained from the firm's website at http://www.kaliskleiman.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KALISKLEIMAN.