#advanceddirective

This is not legal advice. Please consult your attorney for more information. Always make an informed decision based on your research and legal advice from a professional. We are not liable for any inferences made by you. This is an unpleasant topic. A recent accident in a nearby town in which both parents have tragically passed away has opened my eyes to the importance of estate planning and will. This is much more important in the case of kids with special needs who need additional care.

What if I don't have a will?

In case both parents do not have a will, the court will have to decide on the care for the kids left behind. Usually, custody will be awarded to close family members, friends, fostercare in that order. Either way, we do not want this to go a lengthy court battle. The best thing to do is to get a will done by an attorney and make our wishes clear as to who gets the custody of the kid. If each parent has a sperate will instead of joint will, they should nominate the same guardian to avoid confusion. probate avoidance is our end goal.

Am I leaving behind enough?

As of now only life insurance policy we have are the ones through the employer. I and my wife are covered for twice our annual income. Needless to say, that would not even last them for a couple of years. We are in the process of getting term life insurance policies for both of us with a value upwards of a seven-figure sum. There are a lot of calculators available online. Try to use them to at least get an idea as to what needs to be your insurance policy value.

How is the money going to be managed?

In the unfortunate event of parents passing away, how is the money/assets left behind managed? Now that we have sufficient coverage in life insurance policy, it is important to create an estate with all of our assets. Appoint a property guardian who will manage assets on behalf of the child. Once the child turns 18 assets will go to them. Alternately parents can create minor trust and appoint a trustee. Guardian will then request funds from the estate to take care of kids. We can also mention at what age kids get control of assets, as opposed to 18 years in the option above.

Special needs trust

Leaving behind assets for kids with special needs might disqualify them from getting government benefits like Medicaid and SSI. Having a carefully drafted special needs trust, in which you leave your assets to a trust instead of benefactor directly can help receive government benefits.

I can do this myself online !!

Maybe, if you are aware of all legal jargon that goes into making a will, trust, etc. If you have enrolled in an employer-provided legal plan, you can use those to get these done. Even if you are not, I would advise you to keep your DIY ego aside and get this done by an attorney. You will not get a second shot to fix any issues once you are no more. This is our one chance to try and get everything right to safeguard the future of our loved ones.

Final word

It’s difficult enough to manage our financial and tangible assets. Now, many of us are accumulating digital assets we need to consider. These include digital files stored on computers, hard drives and recorded media, or cloud services such as Dropbox, Apple’s iTunes and Amazon, social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter, and multiple email accounts.

While planning an estate here are a few things to consider:

1. MAKE AN INVENTORY OF ALL DIGITAL ASSETS AND HOW TO ACCESS THEM. 

[Automate this process with FREE services like Heirto.com] 

Make one list of all accounts and a separate list of passwords to protect the information from theft. The inventory should include:

Social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Online bank, brokerage, retirement, credit card, loan, and insurance accounts Email accounts Online retail accounts and apps from marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and iTunes Photo- or video-sharing sites like Flickr or YouTube Domain names, blogs and personal websites PayPal or other online payment accounts Utility bills you pay online Cloud services (external web-based servers) like Amazon and Google Docs Other online accounts such as airline sites containing frequent flier miles   Subscription services that deduct money from a credit card Cell phone apps that collect data Cell phone accounts.

2. FIND A SAFE PLACE TO STORE THIS INFORMATION. [Safely store your digital information with FREE services like Heirto.com] 

Find a secure place to put the information so it can be accessed when necessary. It can be printed on paper and locked away in a safe deposit box, filed with an attorney along with other estate records or stored on a web service such as agilebits.com or lastpass.com.

3. NAME A DIGITAL EXECUTOR.

[Declare your Digital Executor and give them access to your accounts ONLY after you have passed with FREE services like Heirto.com] 

Find a trusted person to carry out your wishes upon your death. Be sure that your digital executor is not only responsible and impartial but also has the technical knowledge to manage this kind of information. Your financial executor may or may not be qualified to handle these tasks. Your digital executor should be named in your will, have access to all the necessary information and have power of attorney over your digital accounts. 


4. WRITE OUT INSTRUCTIONS FOR WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS AFTER YOU DIE.


[Automate the transfer of these digital assets with FREE services like Heirto.com] 

Your digital assets may contain intellectual property, such as photographs, written documents, videos and data. A typical computer user may have files on computers, mobile devices, external hard drives, CDs, DVDs and on cloud services. In addition to digital files, many users have several kinds of online accounts: social media accounts, subscription services, cloud services, data services and more.  

Some options to consider when deciding what to do with online accounts are: Shut down the account and do nothing; Archive the contents on DVDs or an external drive; create an auto response on the account; forward messages to another place.

Here are some questions to help you prepare instructions for your digital executor to carry out your wishes:

Who do you want to inherit your computers and other devices, and do you also want them to have the information that’s stored there? Should your Facebook account be shut down when you die, or do you want it to remain online as a memorial of your life?

Who do you want to have access to your email accounts? Check on the policy for your email provider, as they each handle deceased accounts a little differently. 

Do you have a YouTube, Vimeo or other video account? If so do you want to post a memorial video, keep your videos up or have the account closed? Check the policies for each service.

Do you have files stored on cloud services such as Amazon, iTunes, or Google? How do you want those assets distributed?

Do you have any other digital assets such as domain names registered to you, online gaming assets, databases or digital credits?

Are you active in online communities, forums or groups? If so do you want your digital executor to inform the community when you die?

5. CONSIDER WHETHER YOU WANT TO POST A FINAL MESSAGE ONLINE. There are several ways to leave a final message or memorial online after you die. You should make it clear to your executor if this is something you do or don’t want. Be aware that your friends and family may choose to do so on their own.