Will writing has never been easy. Aside from requiring you to face your mortality, finding a home for all of your worldly assets is most people’s idea of a logistical nightmare. And things are only set to get worse in a digital age where, in addition to worrying about physical belongings, people are increasingly having to include their digital assets, too.
Experts predict that digital assets will soon be as much a consideration during will writing as those precious family jewels. In this article, we’re going to help you get ahead by breaking down exactly what digital assets are, and considering why they might deserve a place alongside the physical possessions in your will.
Understanding Digital Legacies
A legacy is simply something that you leave behind after your death, and a digital legacy is the exact same thing in digital form. But there is a little more to it than that. After all, we all have online lives these days, but does that mean everyone should put social media into their legal documentation?
Realistically, no. A digital asset mainly becomes a legacy after it begins earning money. For instance, you may want to pass down a social media account with a substantial number of followers. Alternatively, entrepreneurs are increasingly including their domain name in their wills. Ultimately, though, a digital legacy could take any form, including your email account, blog, digital wallet, or really anything else you do online.
Why There’s a Place for Digital Assets in Your Will
As mentioned, digital assets tend to be most applicable to your will when they’re lucrative so, in the most basic sense, it’s worth including them so you can pass their value on to your friends or family members.
More broadly, including digital assets in your will is key to ensuring that they’re not forgotten or accessed by the wrong parties. When you outline your digital legacy in a legal document, you can include information about who exactly you choose to handle those areas of your affairs, as well as storing any relevant passwords to ensure ease of access for your chosen individual.
How to Include Digital Assets in Your Will
It’s not always easy to know where to start when it comes to adding digital assets to your will, but rest assured that the process isn’t much different from documenting any other asset.
Primarily, you’ll want to seek reliable will-writing services like those offered by Harper Macleod solicitors. A trained team will then be able to assist you in determining which digital assets you should include, and what that means within your will more generally.
In cases of financially lucrative digital legacies, you should also seek advice about considerations like capital tax gains where relevant. This ensures that you handle those digital assets in the most tax-efficient ways possible.
Digital assets don’t necessarily need to play a part in your will, but it’s definitely worth considering these pointers if you’re worried about the loss of your online ventures once you’re gone!
Vikas Maurya is a professional blogger and Data analyst who writes about a variety of topics related to his niche, including data analysis and digital marketing.