Are There Holes in Your Estate Planning?

Digital Assets & Intellectual Property

If you have not addressed digital assets and intellectual property in your wills, trusts, letters of instruction, or other end of life documents, you are overlooking critical components of your estate.

 

Do you have any of the following?

 

  • Email                                                                        
  • Blog
  • Website                                                                        
  • On-line accounts
    • Financial
    • Medical
    • News/media
    • Educational
    • Social Media
      • Facebook
      • Linked In
      • Twitter
      • Etc.
    • Other

 

Each digital account should be detailed with log-on user name, password, and any information the executor of your estate needs in order to close out the account.  Your instructions should include your desires regarding deleting/destroying digital assets.

 

Do you own any of the following items intellectual or cyber property?

 

  • Domain name
  • Browser-based business
  • Copyrights, Trademarks, or Patents
  • Intellectual Property
    • Software
    • Graphical assets
    • Text
    • Video
    • Film
    • Music
    • Video game
    • Etc.
  • Other

 

Each piece of intellectual or cyber property that you own should be detailed with location, password, and any information the executor of your estate needs.  Your instructions should include your desires regarding the disposition of each item of your intellectual and cyber property.

 

Check with your attorney or other estate planning professional to make sure all of your digital assets and intellectual property are addressed.