In this age of social media with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn plus all the other internet sites to which you subscribe - both personally and professionally - the inability to access your online profiles or accounts can create all sorts of problems for your family in the event of your death or if you lose capacity due to illness or injury.
Many people have written wills stating how their assets should be distributed and nominating a guardian to care for their children or make financial and health care decisions for them. Having a social media will is now becoming as important as having a regular will in place.
It’s important to think about how we would want our online identities managed if we were to die or lose capacity.
Read more in this recent post by Rob MacLean, the Founder, CEO and Principal Advisor for Equitas Wealth:
Ever read US composer Leonard Bernstein’s memoir Blue Ink? No! And that’s because it’s locked on his computer behind a password that even 22 years after his death has not been deciphered. 1
When we die, we leave certain things behind, including our online profiles, email accounts and social media information.
As a result it is important to think about leaving some instructions so others can access your email accounts and social media profiles after your death or if you become incapacitated due to illness, injury or old age, and deal with them according to your wishes.
A social media will is now becoming an important requirement and should be considered along with a regular will, power of attorney and power of guardianship.
Mindful of the growing importance of giving directives on what happens to your online profile after your death, the US Government has issued some guidelines on how to deal with your social media online presence. 2
It suggests you appoint somebody you can trust as your online executor to close your email addresses, social media profile and blogs. You should make an inventory of all your digital accounts and you need to advise your executor of how you want your profile handled after your death. For instance, you may want your Facebook profile to continue as a memorial or you may prefer for it to be completely closed. Each social media site will have its own privacy policy, with which you should become familiar.
Your social media executor should also have access to your usernames and passwords on your death. This list may be given to a trusted relative or friend, kept in a secure location with your other legal documents, or it might be that you present it as a sealed document to be opened when the time comes. You may also wish to leave instructions for accessing your password-protected devices including your computer, mobile and iPad.
It’s important to keep these passwords up to date, particularly as many digital accounts require regular changes.
You should also stipulate in your social media will that the executor has a copy of your death certificate to access your accounts.
The Australian authorities have yet to act on providing specific guidelines but the US suggestions still carry weight over here. 3
Despite the need to provide your social media executor with your password details, your bank password remains sacrosanct and should never be divulged. When it comes to your banking, your executor will go to the bank with your death certificate and the bank will then close and freeze all your accounts. This will automatically stop any online transactions including your direct debits.
Your executor will have to advise the relevant utilities and other direct debit suppliers of your death as the money will no longer come out of the bank account. The Australian Bankers Association stresses the importance of keeping your bank password private, saying the information is not pertinent to dealing with your banking after your death and divulging it is in effect breaking your contract with the bank. 4
The importance of sorting out your online presence cannot be stressed enough. At the end of the day, you don’t want your life to be locked in cyberspace after you have gone.
1 http://www.dwmgmt.com/when-you-pass-on-dont-leave-the-passwords-behind/
2 USA.gov.blog
3 Australian Law Society
4 Ian Gilbert, policy director at the Australian Bankers Association
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