Don’t forget your digital assets when making a Will

You may have put in place a Will to deal with your physical and financial assets on your death, but have you thought about your online presence?

These days, people can have many online accounts, from social media to online-shopping, email to music collections.  Given that these are relatively new, the law and procedures relating to this area are very limited, and often subject to the terms and conditions of the company the account is held with, which itself is often located outside England.

The problem for loved ones, is that they cannot deal with these things if they do not know they exist in the first place!  This may mean that if you have online subscriptions, payments continue to be debited from your account or if you have an eBay account, your family lose out on the balance it holds.

By creating a list of the digital accounts and assets that you have, you can help your family to deal with these matters following your death and also set out what you would like to happen to the account.  For example, your Facebook page could be closed down or turned into a permanent memorial page.  If much of your work or life takes place in the digital world, you may wish to consider appointing a separate digital executor with knowledge of the digital world to deal with these things.

For more information on digital legacies or to discuss putting a Will in place, please do not hesitate to contact Louise Miller, Head of Wills and Probate who will be happy to assist.