It is difficult for the legal system and people to keep up with the rapidly changing world of technology.
The legal system has not been able to keep up with the fast-paced world of technology, according to Investment News in “Most estate plans aren’t dealing with digital assets properly.”
Many people today are conducting business online, with digital accounts becoming a large part of our personal lives, including estate planning. Unfortunately, people do not necessarily think about how they want digital assets to be passed on to their heirs.
By default, what happens to digital accounts and assets after we pass away is a patchwork of the individual terms of services of the different websites that we use.
Every website has different rules about the accounts and whether they can be passed to heirs and under what circumstances they can be passed down.
Some states have attempted to address this problem by adopting proposed uniform laws, but there is a long way to go for the law to catch up with technology.
An estate planning attorney can work with you on making sure that your digital accounts are incorporated into your estate plan.
Reference: Investment News (May 11, 2017) “Most estate plans aren’t dealing with digital assets properly.”
