Why Is It Important to Plan for Digital Assets?

Planning for digital assets is important for several reasons. Without a plan digital assets may get lost in the Internet and fail to pass your loved ones after your death. Planning now means your family will not have to worry about hunting for these items upon your death while grieving a beloved family member. If, like most adults (roughly 70 percent of them), you want certain aspects of your digital life to remain private, and you don’t create a plan, your loved ones may learn things that you wish to keep secret. Making a plan now can minimize the risk of identity theft, which happens to 2.4 million deceased Americans each year. 

Find out everything you need to know about protecting your digital assets after you pass here.

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If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact an estate planning attorney in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

What Are Digital Assets?

Instead of existing in photo albums and on videotapes and DVDs, most of our family photos and videos digital. Even if they lack commercial value, they certainly have sentimental value that you want to preserve for your family and friends. Social media accounts containing your photos and videos can also have value to your loved ones when you’re gone. For example, a Facebook account can serve as a memorial after you pass away. When you consider all of the other accounts that you log into (more than 130 on average), the list becomes quite lengthy. 

Digital assets that you may own include:

• Social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
• Financial accounts at brick-and-mortar and online institutions
• Business documents and other files stored in the cloud
• Cryptocurrency
• NFTs
• Databases
• Device backups
• Internet domain names and uniform resource locators (URLs)
• Streaming service accounts (e.g., Netflix, Peacock, Hulu)
• Merchant accounts (e.g., Amazon, Etsy, eBay)
• Gaming tokens
• Virtual avatars
• Points-based loyalty programs (e.g., for groceries, gas stations, airlines, and hotels)
• Rights to intellectual property, artwork, and literature
• Online betting accounts
• Monetized video content

Find out everything you need to know about protecting your digital assets after you pass here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact an estate planning attorney in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

Things to Do Before You Die

You may already know the importance of funding a trust as a part of preparing for your death. It’s also important to know other things you should be preparing for before you die.

These things include:

1. Inventory: there’s more to estate planning than writing a will or trust. You should create a list of your assets to make it easier on your family. An estate planning attorney can help you prepare a spreadsheet listing your assets and placing it in your estate planning binder.
2. Retirement/Life Insurance/Annuities: beneficiary designations of your retirement, life insurance and annuities take precedent over your trust. It’s important to coordinate beneficiary designations with your overall estate plan.
3. Bank Account - you can designate a beneficiary for your bank accounts through a “payable on death” (“POD”) designation. Again, it’s important to coordinate these POD designations with your overall estate plan. 

Find out the other things you should be preparing for before you die here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact estate planning attorneys in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

Preparing for End of Life? Get Started with an Estate Planning Attorney Today!

You may already know the importance of funding a trust as a part of preparing for your death. It’s also important to know other things you should be preparing for before you die.

Find out everything you need to know about estate planning before you die here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact estate planning attorneys in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls with Beneficiary Designation Assets

Beneficiary designation assets or accounts, like other estate planning tools, should be used in conjunction with other aspects of your estate plan. When estate plans are properly drafted and prepared by a lawyer, there’s less room for mistakes. However, there are occasions where simple mistakes or oversights can result in your estate plan being disrupted.

A few common mistakes include:

• Failing to name specific beneficiaries
• Failure to name contingent beneficiaries
• Designating a beneficiary that will become ineligible for benefits
• Failure to review your complete estate plan after important events
• Failure to ensure beneficiary designations are not in conflict

Learn more about protecting your finances with estate planning tools here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact estate planning attorneys in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

What is a beneficiary designation?

A beneficiary designation is an agreement between your estate and a financial institution to pay specific assets upon your death to a named trust or individual. For example, your life insurance policy may have your spouse or child named to receive the payout when you pass away. Coordinating your beneficiary designations with your estate planning documents is essential to protect your beneficiaries from unnecessary risk. At Pear Sperling Eggan & Daniels, P.C., we can help you to make initial beneficiary designations or review and change past designations.

Learn more about protecting your finances with estate planning tools here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact estate planning attorneys in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.

The Appointment of a Guardian Requires Careful Consideration

The appointment of a guardian for minor children in a will or in another document requires careful consideration. When you die, the guardian’s appointment may be effective more quickly if the appointment is made in a separate writing outside the will, since the appointment can be effective prior to probating the will. While some courts require a guardian appointment in separate writing go through a probate-like verification process, there’s no statutory or case law requirement to do so. Given that situations can change, and timing of death is uncertain, some parents may prefer the probate-like verification process even when the appointed person filing an acceptance may be sufficient. 

Learn more about appointing a guardian for a child outside a will here.

Get Started Today: Schedule Your Consultation!

If you’re interested in learning more about estate planning, please contact estate planning attorneys in Ann Arbor at 734-665-4441.