Once upon a time, it was easy enough to leave your belongings to your family in a will and allow someone access to the safe deposit box in order to collect important documents. Now, much of our information is stored online and is password protected. For example, e-mail addresses and correspondence, Facebook profiles, and online accounts with banks, brokerage houses, PayPal and eBay.
When a person dies, access to these accounts can be extremely difficult. Fortunately, a new industry has sprung up to help people pass on the digital keys to their online lives should they die or become disabled. Call it "digital estate planning" or creating a "virtual executor."
Typically, users sign up and pay an annual fee to upload everything into a private account. Upon the user's death or disability, pre-designated individuals are notified about how to open the account and access the information.
Here are a few options:
Assetlock allows you to designate recipients who can open your account. Your account may have digital copies of important documents, final letters and emails, instructions, locations (safe box key or insurance policies, for instance), or secret information like lock combinations. You designate the number of recipients required to verify your death. The cost ranges from basic (20 entries and 20mg storage) for $9.99 per year, to unlimited entries and 20gb storage for $79.95 per year.
Deathswitch sets up a schedule prompting a password from you. If the password is not forthcoming emails are automatically sent to your previously defined list of recipients. The price ranges from free for a single message with no attachments, to $19.95 per year for 30 messages (up to 10 recipients each) and attachments that may include pictures, videos, scanned documents or plain text.
LegacyLocker provides a place to save all account and password information. Two verifiers must confirm death then the accounts and passwords are sent to beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are designated by account. Accounts may include email accounts, social network accounts, online retail accounts or any other personal accounts. Features also include farewell messages that are sent upon death. A certified death certificate is required before accounts are sent to beneficiaries. Unlimited assets, beneficiaries and legacy letters are $299.99 one-time or $29.99 per year.
Slightly Morbid provides a place to consolidate personal online contacts. The site generates a paper certificate that you give to a trusted 3rd party. Upon death that party can send notifications and trigger email that you have written and saved. There are categories of notification that can be used to tailor messages or notification schedules. The service also provides for “last words” messages to designated recipients. The one-time costs range from basic at $9.95 to premium at $49.95.
Other services focus on assisting people in sending important messages to loved ones.
Great Goodbye allows users to store e-mails, photos and videos that will be sent to those closest to them in the event of their confirmed death. It requires an activation code that is given to a trusted 3rd party. Your emails are sent after verification with the 3rd party. The price ranges from $9.95 per year (or $39 one-time) to $49.95 per year (or $219 one-time) depending on the number of emails and attachments required.
EternityMessage is a service that saves and sends emails in the future.
Lastpost is a British-based service that stores and distributes emails and electronic or physical letters to be sent in the future. Distribution can be immediately after death, after some specified period, or on any future date.Source for Post: Elder Law Answers. Read more about it on their site.
You can also read more about these services in articles in USA Today, and Everyday Estate Planning Blog.
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