Before there was the Internet, planning your estate was as simple as walking through your home and taking inventory of the personal property, real property, bank accounts, investment accounts, and retirement accounts and then drawing up a will to indicate what you wanted to happen to each of the items. However, in today’s digital age, this is much more difficult. An individual may have money invested in Bitcoin or other digital currency. People also have several other digital assets on social media, own valuable domain names or brands. It is necessary to perform a comprehensive estate plan that takes into account the ownership and value of these additional “assets.”
When you meet with your Ohio estate planning attorney for the first time to create your will and estate planning documents, these questions should be asked:
- What digital assets do you own?
- Who do you want to administer these assets? Are they tech-savvy?
- Are any passwords or answers to security questions required to access these accounts? If so, what are those passwords and/or answers to security questions?
- Does the entity holding your digital assets require any specific designation forms that identify the person you authorize to manage the account after your death?
- Who needs to know about your digital assets and how to access them?
Also, make sure that if you update your estate plan with password changes and other important access information for these accounts. Bitcoin and other digital assets can be forever kept from your decedents if they do not have the proper account access.
Dawes Legal, LLC Helps You Prepare for the Future
At Dawes Legal, LLC, our firm is committed to helping clients prepare an estate plan that protects all of their assets – tangible and intangible. Our clients can rest easy knowing their assets will be looked after in accordance with their wishes. Contact Dawes Legal, LLC so that we can put our firm’s knowledge and experience to work for you. Call (614) 733-9999 to schedule your case consultation with us.