Often, while preparing Wills on behalf of our clients, we have noticed how many ONLY think about their physical assets and cash assets, but fail to think about what will happen to their digital assets and memories, online, in the cloud and offline stored on hard drives and USBs.
Digital assets can include items of sentimental value which are held in online accounts, cloud storage, social media, and other protected electronic storage.
Digital assets can also include items of commercial value, such as cryptocurrency.
At present, if you do not put appropriate provisions in your Will, these sentimental and commercial items can be lost forever. Your family may not be able to access those digital assets after you pass away, as there is no legislation regarding the rights of access to a person’s digital device or account.
Your family may be at the mercy of big technology companies when trying to obtain access to those digital assets.
Earlier in 2022, a private members’ Bill had been introduced to parliament to give families of the deceased immediate access to their digital data, without legal action.
Whilst this is a move in the right direction, this has not yet come into force.
It is so very important you make sure that your Will refers to your digital assets and how you want them dealt with when you pass away, otherwise, your family may miss out on both sentimental and valuable assets.
Your family will already be going through a difficult time and having a fight with a big technology company is the last thing that they will want to deal with.
Have you thought about what happens to your social media profiles, your cloud storage, online subscriptions and even profiles on dating sites in the unfortunate event of you passing away?
Please contact me if you wish to discuss your Will and your digital memories.
0207 183 4595
The information provided in this article is not intended to constitute professional advice and you should take full and comprehensive legal, accountancy or financial advice as appropriate on your individual circumstances by a fully qualified Solicitor, Accountant or Financial Advisor/Mortgage Broker before you embark on any course of action.
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