E-State (Digital estate Planning)

You want to make sure that your family is well taken care of when you die; you want to make sure that your assets are distributed equally between your family. You make a will; you ensure that you leave all of your assets to those who are closest to you. You take into account your car, your house, bank accounts and any other assets that you may have, but what about your online assets or E-state as it is more popularly known? This is any asset that you may have accumulated online. It can be in the form of websites, blogs, receipts for bill payment, online bank accounts, or any other account that you consider to contain valuable information, or any other type of account that can help you to reap financial gains over time. E-state planning has gained popularity in recent times as online participation has grown exponentially and more and more people are now interacting and working online. More people have now come to realize that the internet is also a way of earning an income. Most sites that are visited online require the use of a password and contain the user’s personal information. Each of these sites also use the passwords to protect the accounts. If you try to remember your passwords to access these accounts, it may prove to be futile, if it is not written down. Just imagine someone else having to try to figure them out. People are afraid of writing out their passwords, because they are of the opinion that no one can be trusted and that online accounts are not considered a priority for the police in the event of infiltration. For the majority of persons who have online accounts, it is inconceivable for them to disclose their passwords to family members if monetary gains are involved. What about persons who are incapacitated to the point where they have poor memories or disabilities which leave them unable to access their accounts. What happens to these accounts? Do they disappear into cyber land, or does the owner of the sites inherit them? If you are unsure of what happens to these accounts at that point, then it will be best if you divulge the information regarding your passwords to someone you can trust. This can be a family member, a friend, colleague, spouse, or any other person that you deem trustworthy enough to guard this information and use it only when it is necessary. All of your user names and passwords should be listed for your online accounts bank, email, trading, stock, social media and any affiliate account that you may have. The information that is stored in your social media accounts can also prove to be valuable and should be saved in case you need to do a retrieval later on. There are now several sites that are available online that offers a way in which you can protect your passwords and pass them on to others upon your instructions. These sites offer a fool-proof way for you to enable other persons who you deem appropriate to access your information. These virtual assets can become valuable over time, as the internet is accessed by many people around the world at different times. This enables you to make money even while you sleep. Most of what we do on the internet is stored “in the cloud” this means that they are stored online. It would therefore be wise for you to leave your family access to this information prior to your demise. It may seem morbid, but some people are aware of the amount of time that they have left before they pass on, for others, who are not so fortunate, it can happen in a jiffy, an accident, murder, heart attack or any other circumstances which may lead to sudden death. It is important for you to plan ahead, even now, while you still can to prevent the loss of your online information for your loved ones. You can start by creating a list of your accounts along with your accessible information, passwords, username. Do a simple research to find out about the sites which offer this type of service to individuals. If you don’t trust the sites, then a simple list will suffice, you can then pass this list on to the relevant persons who you would want to access it. You can also go back and peruse the user agreement that you had signed for your account. This will let you know exactly what happens in terms of who is able to access your account and who is not authorized. Some sites stipulate that no third party is allowed to access your information. E-state planning is useful even if you are not at risk of passing on. Sometimes you, as a user forget your password and have to request a reminder to get on sites. If you are armed with this information, you can avoid this process completely. This helps you to keep track of the information that you need and allows you to make changes when necessary. For all of the people who use online services, such as e-banking, bill payment, storing of documents and files, interact, share photos or any other form of interaction that is carried out online, will definitely require the use of a log for all of their online information. No matter how simple you think your interaction is or how infrequent, you will have files, data or photos that are stored online that you will need to retrieve at some point. This information can be valuable, not just in monetary value, but also for sentimental value and should be protected and passed on to other family members if you are unable to visit the sites for yourself. It can be a lot safer to store information on the computer, or online, because you eliminate the paper and the possibility of someone accessing the information that you would normally have on paper; but this information can also get lost easily. Avoid further delay and make a plan to protect your e-state so your family and friends will be able to access the information if you are unable to.