Are your digital assets ready for the afterlife?

* We're all spending more and more time online. And as a result, we've all got a variety of digital assets hanging around, from social media accounts, photos and videos, email accounts, and subscriptions, just to name a few. But how do you make sure your digital life is properly taken care of when you're gone?

Mindi Banach, tax and estate planner with TD Wealth, joins me now to talk about why people should consider an estate plan for their digital assets. Mindi, thank you very much for joining us.

* Thank you for having me.

* So why is it important that people make sure their estate planning accounts for their digital assets?

* It's really important, and I'm so glad we're talking about this because I talk about this topic with every single one of my clients. And while there's certainly a number of reasons to consider a digital estate plan, I'm going to focus on just a few of them today. The first is you don't want your digital assets to go lost and/or undiscovered.

Some of the digital assets that you own have sentimental value to them. So for example, your social media accounts, your digital photos, other digital assets that you own have financial value associated with them. So for example, cryptocurrencies, airline miles, credit card points.

I tend to find that clients overlook the digital assets that they own. And if you're overlooking these assets, then there's a high risk and danger that your loved ones and/or your executor are also going to overlook these assets. And again, a digital estate plan can help you ensure that these assets are not going to go lost and/or undiscovered after your passing.

Another reason why, again, really important to consider a digital estate plan is that you want to have a plan in place for how your digital assets are going to be managed after your passing to make certain that you're ensuring that your digital assets and your private and sensitive information are going to be protected.

So for example, you may have certain personal and private digital photos that was only meant for one particular loved one's eyes only. You would not want any unauthorized person, again, to gain access to those photos after your passing. And a plan can help ensure that you're protecting those assets.

And lastly, you want to make certain that there are not going to be any unintended consequences, where your digital legacy is going to be managed in a way that you did not intend. So for example, if you know in advance that your family and loved ones, if they were to constantly be reminded of your passing by seeing your online social media presence, you may want to have a plan in place today that indicates that your social media accounts should be deactivated and closed upon your passing.

* So clearly, a plan is important. Now, knowing where to start isn't always easy, as you know. So what are some of the steps that people should consider when creating a plan for the digital assets? Where do you begin?

* Each person really needs to be proactive and take responsibility for creating their own digital estate plan. And while there are certainly a number of different steps to consider, I'm going to focus on three of them today. The first is you want to create a comprehensive and up to date list of all of the digital assets that you own, both the sentimental digital assets that you own as well as the digital assets that have financial value associated with them.

This is a step that it's unlikely a professional can do for you because it's unlikely that they're going to know what you own in the digital universe. As a second step, after creating the list, is that you want to have a plan in place to transfer access to your digital assets. And when I refer to access, I'm referring to the login information and the password information.

So for example, if you own any Bitcoins, Bitcoin is an extreme example of a cryptocurrency account where if you do not share the password to that account, that money is potentially lost forever. And again, a plan to ensure you're transferring access to your loved ones is going to be important.

And lastly, as a third step, you want to provide very clear instructions for how your digital assets should be managed after your passing. So for example, again, with your social media accounts, do you want those accounts to be deactivated and closed? Or assuming it's legally allowed, do you want to have someone else manage those accounts for you after your passing?

* Should people consider putting their digital estate plan inside of the will?

* I wish that I could tell people that there's one Canadian law that can deal with all of your digital assets under one particular strategy.

* And there isn't one?

* Unfortunately, no. And as is the case with most advances in technology, the law is lagging far behind. And a really important thing to understand when it comes to your digital assets is that some of your digital assets cannot be transferred in your will because you don't, in fact, actually own that digital asset.

You may, in fact, only own a license to use and access that digital asset. And you're governed by the terms of service agreement that you originally agreed to when you opened up that account. So for example, you do not own your Facebook page. You merely own a license to use and access that page.

And you're governed by Facebook's terms of service agreement that you agreed to when you originally opened up that account. Again, for many of the online accounts that you open and online digital assets that you purchase, there's typically that really long form you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to click that Accept button.

* The one I never read and just--

* Most people, unfortunately, are not reading that. But what that form is, essentially, is a terms of service agreement. And you are agreeing to all this legal information. And it could be that in that terms of service agreement is language that indicates ownership of a user's account and even more restrictive termination upon a user's death.

So one of the most important things to consider, specifically when you're creating that list of digital assets that you own, is what, in fact, do you actually own? Do you, in fact, actually own that digital asset? And while, certainly, some instructions, it may make sense to include specific instructions in your will, that's certainly not going to be the best strategy to deal with all of your digital assets.

Again, certainly, not for your sensitive and private information. You would never want to include your password information in your will because a will is a public document. So again, while some of your digital assets can be included in your will, not all of them should be included in your will. Best to speak to a professional.

* Now, should people be naming an executor who deals specifically with their digital affairs, someone who is separate from their main executor who would carry out the other duties? Should these two be separate, or what are your thoughts there?

* If there is someone who is better suited to deal with your digital assets, more so than your typical, standard executor who's going to deal with the rest of your assets, then yes. You may want to consider appointing this person to deal with your digital affairs. That being said, you want to be very clear about the responsibilities that each person is going to be responsible for because any overlapping responsibilities could lead to additional cost, confusion, and/or litigation.

* Now, you also mentioned that people should be proactive and also take responsibility when it comes to sorting out their digital afterlife. But since this process can be complex, who should people consider speaking to for guidance?

* There are a number of different types of people that you want to consider speaking to. With the speed that technology evolves, professionals can help you stay up to date with how any changes could impact you. And there's probably four professional/people in particular that you may want to consider speaking with.

The first is an estate planning lawyer, who can help draft a will and navigate your digital estate plan for you, help you with the steps involved. The second is a financial advisor. They can help identify any digital assets that have financial value associated with that and incorporate into your overall estate plan.

The next is a technology expert. This could be a great resource for you to understand the technical aspects of your digital assets and how to manage those assets. And lastly, you want to speak to your trusted friends and family, especially if these are the people that are going to be managing your digital assets after your passing.

You want to make certain that everyone's on the same page and that your wishes are going to be understood and respected.

* Mindi, great information as always. Thank you very much for joining us.

* My pleasure.

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