Garden State Trust Company

Logins And Passwords……Oh My!

I use an application on my iPhone to store all of my logins and passwords. Recently I was adding yet another new entry and decided to count the number of entries I had saved so far. To my amazement, I had more than 120 (many work related) logins and passwords! I imagine that many of you also have a list of passwords the length of your arm as well. There is an overriding question with so many passwords, namely how can my heirs access my digital assets that are password protected?

In September 2017, the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, was enacted into New Jersey law. In general, the Act provides executors, trustees, guardians, and power of attorney holders (“fiduciaries”) the ability to access and control “digital assets” belonging to decedents, beneficiaries and wards.

Going “digital” may improve efficiency, access, storage, and ease of sharing but at death, those benefits disappear. For an estate’s executor and its beneficiaries, going digital can have the opposite effect, making assets more difficult to access or even entirely inaccessible and lost.

“Digital assets” encompass all electronically stored information, not just what’s on one’s computer. An estate plan today should include a digital inventory of assets such as: • Passwords for devices, files, email, and social media accounts. • Passwords for financial information, accounts, and digital tax records. • Domain names, Web pages, Blogs, and other virtual property • Subscription services that would need to be cancelled or adjusted.

Passwords for access to computers, phones, or tablets and user account passwords may be required so your executor or heirs can have your pictures, videos, writing, or other personal content. Don’t assume they can acquire this easily from providers either. For example, Facebook will not provide access to a member’s account to their family upon death, instead giving the family the option of closing the page or leaving it up as a memorial.

The law addresses questions such as: • As an executor, how do I obtain access to the decedent’s electronic communications? • If I am a trustee, does a custodian of a digital account have to provide me access? • Once I obtain access, am I treated as an “authorized user” under the law?

Our suggestion when reviewing your estate planning documents is to be sure that your Power of Attorney, Will and/or Trust addresses your digital assets. We have a printable version of our handout entitled “Your Digital Estate” by visiting https://gstrustco.com/assets/digital-assets.pd

Ira J. Brower Founder

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Lifestyle & Money Management Trust & Estate Planning Investment Services

Caring for and thoughtfully guiding our clients creates the strong, trusting relationships we have nurtured over the decades. That’s why so many people rely upon our independent company for wealth management and trust & estate services. True independence and understanding are at the core of our unique value proposition. Garden State Trust Company

To learn how we can focus on you and your family, contact Adam Brower or Siobhan Connolly.

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