Digital estate planning nuances to consider in Portland | Portland ...

Some Portland residents recognize that, when it comes to estate planning, some things are just as important as money. While estate planning generally revolves around how to distribute one's financial assets, it is important to address lingering questions relating to an individual's digital persona. Most of us are more concerned with what happens to the house and bank accounts after we are gone. But some of us are also concerned with what happens to our Facebook account.

This Portland Estate Planning Law Blog has previously discussed the need for Portland residents to think about how their digital estate relates to their wills and trusts. Special considerations are often needed for assets held online. Another interesting dynamic is social media. While its importance varies among individuals, and generations especially, increasingly it is becoming more and more central in the life of an average Oregonian.

If something should happen, what do you want to happen to your Facebook, Flickr, and email accounts? One option is to think about appointing a digital administrator to manage these matters. Though these concerns may seem trivial to some, the sheer amount of sensitive personal information contained in these accounts make them more important than financial bequests in the minds of others.

Wills and trusts are simply the two most commonly referred to estate planning tools. Few appreciate, though, how these tools can do more than leave your favorite nephew a cherished coin collection. Wills and trusts, along with other planning tools, are limited both by laws and by one's imagination. Directing certain things to happen to your Facebook account may seem like an estate planning stretch, but it is only the tip of the iceberg for things you can control in an estate plan.

Source: NBC News, "Digital estate planning," Mark Barger, May 28, 2012

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