: Online Estate Planning: How to Manage Digital Assets #IndiaNEWS #How To It’s no secret that our lives are becoming more dependent on technology with each passing year. Whether it’s ordering groceries

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Online Estate Planning: How to Manage Digital Assets #IndiaNEWS #How To
It’s no secret that our lives are becoming more dependent on technology with each passing year. Whether it’s ordering groceries online and having them shipped to your door or monitoring your vitals on a sports watch, it appears that almost every aspect of our lives, including much of our most precious possessions, has been digitized.



This is why it’s never been more critical to pay attention to your digital assets and consider how they fit into your overall asset management strategy, especially seeing as we all live in a world where cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum exist, as well as websites and domain names valued in the billions. When you have a considerable amount of digital assets, you should consult an estate planning attorney to ensure that your digital assets are properly handled if you become incapacitated or die, so you have peace of mind knowing they will be distributed accordingly to your heirs.



With that said, here is an overview of how to create an online estate plan for your digital assets and what the process entails:



What is a Digital Asset?



If you’re wondering what classified as a digital asset and what doesn’t, here is a list of the most common examples:



Online bank accountsWeb wallets (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller)Social media accountsWebsites and domain namesCryptocurrencyInformation or documents stored in the cloudIntellectual property, including copyrighted materialsCloud storageEmail accounts



In general, just about anything held online or on the cloud that holds value is considered a digital asset. There have even been instances where in-game currency and player accounts on popular games such as World of Warcraft have counted as digital assets.



Why Should Digital Assets Be Addressed in an Estate Plan?



As you might expect, online estate planning is a relatively new concept. So much so that less than half of the US states have laid out specific laws regarding their management. If that is the case, why should you even address them in your estate plan in the first place? 



Well, there are a few benefits you need to be aware of. Firstly, the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act of 2015 means that a fiduciary will be allocated to your digital estate in the event of your death and will act on your behalf unless you have an estate plan in place.



Second, where no state regulations exist, the holders of the online properties would usually be whoever is listed in terms of use or privacy policies of the platform managing the digital asset. Of course, this isn’t perfect because there’s a good chance that none of the digital properties in this category will be accessible to your descendants.

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