Denton County Living Well Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 46

What Happens to Your Online
Accounts After You Die?
Courtesy The Ashmore Law Firm, P.C.

W

ith the continually growing use of our online activities, and our lives being lived, and
stored online, it has become necessary to
have an estate plan for your digital assets in
addition to an estate plan for your traditional
assets. There are too many issues that can arise if you do
not have the proper plan in place for your digital assets.
Online accounts such as, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, PayPal, Instagram, email accounts, investment accounts and
online banking accounts are all examples of digital assets.
It’s important to know what happens to your digital assets
when you die and things to consider when planning for
these digital assets. Below are a few examples of what happens to your online accounts after you die.
Facebook
After you die, Facebook allows your immediate family,
upon verification, to memorialize your account, delete your
account or remove it. Recently, there has been a new option
added to Facebook called a “legacy contact.”
In February of this year, Facebook announced a policy that
allows you to designate a “legacy contact,” who’ll be allowed to pin a post on your Timeline after your death. The
contact won’t be able to log in as you or read your messages, but will be allowed to respond to new friend requests,
update your cover and profile photos, archive your Facebook posts and photos. You can find the “legacy contact”
in the security section of your Facebook.

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Pinterest
As with Twitter, Pinterest will not gi