Be Prepared for the Inevitable or Unexpected in Today’s Age

Preparing for the inevitable, or the unexpected, is not something that a lot of people like to think about. And today’s high-tech world is creating numerous, unintended challenges for loved ones. In this article, we’re sharing tips for why, what and how to best leverage technology to make things easier for loved ones.

Why Organize Your Digital Legacy

In our digital age, we rely heavily on our devices. We use computers and laptops for email and business purposes, we rely on the conveniences of smartphones to stay in touch with people and pay bills and we may use wearable devices to track our physical activity. We also rely on a variety of online accounts, whether it’s to send a payment to a housecleaner using Venmo, stream a favorite show, or having pantry items be delivered to our doorstop.

We love the conveniences that technology provides us but there is a downside to our modern-day life: there is not much of a paper trail. Years ago, a financial statement or a utility bill would routinely be delivered to our mailbox; so if anything were to happen to us, our loved ones would check the mail and discover something that required action. Today, our loved ones won’t necessarily know what we have — unless we tell them.

The loss of a loved one can be a difficult time for someone. And not knowing the details associated with their loved one’s digital legacy can make an already challenging time potentially more difficult and more expensive.

Cost of Dying by the Numbers

• In the immediate days and weeks following the loss of a loved one, individuals and families are spending on average $12,616. These costs may include funeral expenses, paying utilities, legal fees and interest/late charges.

• On average, it takes an executor 16-18 months to settle someone’s estate. This average is beginning to rise because of the time required to identify all the online accounts associated with an individual.

• Data indicates between 32-37% of Americans have a will. This means the rest of Americans are leaving important decisions about their life to someone they don’t know — like a judge or a court.

• Most terms of service agreements that we consent to when creating an online account state that nobody — including spouses — will be granted access to an online account when we pass away or become incapacitated.

• Litigation attorneys indicate it can cost a family or estate up to $10,000 to pursue legal action to attempt to obtain access to one digital account belonging to a loved one. And, depending on the state the individual lived in, the legal process could take 3-9 months. This lengthy process and financial burden creates more challenges to an already difficult time for loved ones.

How to Organize A Digital Legacy in 3 Steps

1. Access

Access to all devices is critical. And sadly, during the pandemic, many families learned the hard way that facial recognition doesn’t work if someone is on a ventilator.

If a loved one isn’t able to access a device, it could cost their estate thousands of dollars to hire someone to break into the device. And sadly, there’s no guarantee that access attempts will be successful, even if a court authorizes this action.

So in our high-tech, modern world the single, most impactful action you can take is to make sure someone has access to your cell phone — and all your devices.

Bonus tip:

Most smartphones today come with two important features: Medical ID and Emergency Contact(s). These features have the potential to both save lives and allow loved ones to be easily contacted by first responders — all while ensuring nothing else on the phone is accessible to others.

2. Passwords

Similar to devices, having the ability to access online accounts is paramount. Not having the ability to access a loved one’s digital account could create a myriad of difficulties, making an already challenging time even more trying.

If a loved one isn’t able to access an online account, the unintended consequences could be:

• Not having the ability to access cherished digital photos — or text messages or voice mails

• Needlessly continuing to pay for accounts that are no longer needed because they don’t have the authority and/or information needed to close the account

• Spending thousands of dollars on legal fees to pursue access to a digital account

Leaving a list of digital accounts — and the passwords — will save loved ones from frustration. And maybe even save them some money, too.

Bonus tip #1:

Just because someone has the password to an individual’s bank account does not give them the proper, legal authority to access the account. Every financial institution has their own rules and processes that must be followed when someone passes away or becomes incapacitated. So be sure to keep loved ones out of trouble by telling them to work with the financial institution(s).

Bonus tip #2:

Consider using a password manager to securely protect and organize your passwords.

Bad actors know we tend to re-use the same three or four passwords. Cybercrimes routinely make the news these days, so it’s vital to use unique passwords. Password managers not only keep our passwords safe but they also can help us by creating unique and complex passwords.

3. Legacy Contacts

Did you know four popular platforms provide a feature to specify who you want to have access to your account should they become incapacitated or pass away? They are: Apple, Dropbox, Facebook, and Google.

To put it simply, the law will always look to these settings first to determine who legally can access these digital accounts. Yes, similar to a beneficiary form on a bank account, these settings even override instructions included in a will.

If someone has an account on one of these four platforms and doesn’t utilize this feature to designate who can have access to their account, their loved ones could inadvertently suffer additional and unintended emotional trauma.

These two stories illustrate the importance of designating legacy contacts whenever possible:

• About six years ago, a woman lost her husband to a long battle with cancer. She didn’t have the password to his Facebook account so the account has lain dormant. Recently, the account was hacked and she started receiving Facebook messages from her deceased husband’s account, creating emotional trauma.

• A husband was recently killed in a car accident on the way to work. The husband had taken photos and videos with their children that morning and his phone was set up to save those images to his AppleID account. His wife didn’t have the password to his phone nor did she have access to his AppleID account. And because the husband never designated an Apple legacy contact, Apple would not provide his wife access to the account.

In both cases, Facebook and Apple followed the terms of service agreement that their users consented to when creating accounts on these platforms.

With every online platform having a unique terms of service agreement, be sure to use the online tool associated with these four popular platforms:

• Apple: Legacy Contact

• Dropbox: Trusted Contact

• Facebook: Legacy Contact

• Google: Inactive Account Manager

The Benefits of Organizing Important Life Details

Organizing all the important details associated with modern-day lives should be a source of empowerment and joy. It’s an opportunity to ensure loved ones will be able to navigate their grief on their own terms, allowing them to continue caring for other loved ones, working a job and/or maintaining relationships.

Kate Hufnagel is Founder & CEO of The Digital Wrangler®. As a legacy and estate organizer, Kate is on a mission to inspire individuals to organize their digital legacy. She can be reached at kate@thedigitalwrangler.com.