Wills, other documents can address intangible and tangible assets

On Behalf of | Feb 7, 2019 | Wills

Although the value of living in the moment is often emphasized, the problem is that many people neglect to think big picture about their lives, including what will happen to their assets when they die. Specifically, what will happen to their intangible assets — their digital properties? Here are a few tips for addressing these types of properties in addition to using wills to address tangible assets in New York.

When people pass away, their surviving loved ones might need to access a variety of accounts. These accounts may include, for example, banking, loan, 401(k), social media, email and bill accounts. In light of this, it may behoove the owners of these types of accounts to start using password managers. Once all of their passwords are recorded in one place, they can save this information on thumb drives and store these drives in envelopes. They can also print off this information and store it in folders or binders.

Another critical part of the password management step involves ensuring that surviving loved ones understand how to utilize password managers. In addition, the costs of the deceased asset owners’ password managers will need to be covered until the deceased individuals’ estates can be settled. For this reason, it may behoove people with digital assets to appoint technology literate people to settle their estates for them. In addition, they may want to train these technology literate individuals on how to work with password managers as well as the web interfaces they may come across when settling the estates.

The digital nature of modern society makes estate planning all the more complex today than it was years ago. However, an attorney in New York can help people with both tangible and intangible assets to create wills and other estate planning documents that accurately reflect their wishes long term. With an attorney’s help, they can make sure that their assets ends up in the intended hands when they pass away.