• March 28, 2024
 How Inheritance becomes Digital

How Inheritance becomes Digital

With so much focus on finding people whose assets are lying unclaimed, it is little surprise that many don’t realise this includes digital assets as well.

Digital assets are literally anything that requires a password and login to access, so by their nature, they’re online accounts of varying kinds, including supermarket and airline loyalty entitlements, PayPal, online banking and utility accounts, online music, video and photograph accounts and of course social media accounts such as Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.

As we become increasingly reliant on the web, and it becomes easier to apply for loans, store cards and credit cards online, this list of digital assets grows. As a result it may not be obvious what debt or liabilities are associated with an estate and so it’s important to identify these accounts, and access them, when a person passes. Some companies take the helpful line and allow access to a deceased’s relatives, but others can refuse access without the correct account password, denying the next of kin access to those assets.

Another consideration is the ownership of published material on some of these websites, whereby the Terms of Use state that material is owned by the publishing platform, rather than by the subscriber, such as iTunes, which proffers a license for use, rather than ownership of the music. In an instance such as this, there is no automatic right to pass on the digital assets as inheritance. So it pays to keep passwords and logins safe — but accessible when they need to be.

Consumers are more and more aware of the security and privacy issues around data, with best practice telling us to change our passwords regularly. With a view to ensuring assets are safe and included in a Will, access to digital assets should also be included, with Beneficiaries noted where appropriate. Keeping a secure note of up to date login details and passwords with a client’s Will, ensures easy access when required.

So give some thought to digital assets as part of an overall estate; they are probably more valuable than initially thought and can prove more challenging than physical assets for Executors and beneficiaries to access when the time comes.

www.landmarkfas.co.uk

Colin Blears, Business Development Manager at Landmark FAS