Now Is the Time to Share Information on Your Digital Legacy With Your Loved Ones
The right people, doing the right things,
the right way, for the right reasons.
Right at Home.
As much as we may not want to think about it, all of us will die someday. You know you need a will and a living will, a financial power of attorney and a health proxy too.
Your will is the best place to provide how to dispose of your tangible assets, like your money, home, car, jewelry and collectibles. But have you ever thought about your digital legacy and how you want to have that handled after you're gone?
Up until a decade or so ago, this is not something that we even had to think about. But now there are so many different types of virtual and digital media that you're likely to have content on at least one of them. Think about it.
Do you have a Facebook account? What about Twitter? Do you have a professional profile on LinkedIn? Do you post photos on Pinterest? Do you write a personal blog? Have you ever sold anything on eBay or Poshmark or LetGo? Do you have an iTunes or Netflix account? Are you an Amazon Prime customer? Have you ever posted a video on YouTube?
If you can answer "yes" to any of those questions, then you have a digital legacy and you need to decide how that legacy will be managed when you're gone and who you want to manage it for you. Some companies have policies on this and some don't so it's up to you to be proactive and come up with a plan to be executed by someone you trust.
It's worth checking the various sites to see what each one's policy is. For example, Google has something called an Inactive Account Manager which lets you decide when your account should be made inactive and who should be notified when the account has been designated as inactive. It can cover such things as YouTube, Google+, Google Voice and Gmail.
Facebook also allows you to designate a "legacy contact" who will be the virtual executor of your Facebook page. You designate a friend or family member and then they'll be sent an email advising them of your choice. (Of course, it's a good idea if you tell your legacy contact ahead of time that you're designating them). If your legacy contact accepts, they can manage your page after you're gone (including, for example, posting information about a memorial service) or they can delete your account altogether.
There are a number of websites that you can download and which, for a cost, allow you to enter all of your login information (such as user names, passwords, etc.) into your account and then designate who should be given access to that information. There are both plusses and minuses to such a method. A plus is that they allow you to aggregate all your personal information in one place instead of trying to keep track of it yourself. One potential downside is that there's no guarantee that the website will still be in business when your designated representative needs access to your information.
If you want to take advantage of the shortcuts that social media provides to manage your digital legacy, that's a great idea. But you may also want to do exactly what many of us have done and spend an hour to create a document that shows all the websites (social media, banks, insurance companies, mortgage or leasing company, auto financing companies, airline frequent flyer sites, etc.) that you routinely use and then list your log-in information and your password.
Protect the document by enabling a password that only you (and whomever you designate) will be able to use to open the document (and remember to update the document as changes occur). Make a few copies of the document and put one in your safe deposit box (if you have one), give another to your designated representative and keep another copy in your home. Your virtual legacy will thank you.
Right at Home of Central New Jersey is always searching for ways to help our clients and their families deal with the everyday stresses of life. We hope this information will be helpful to you and your family.
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About Right at Home of Central New Jersey – Right at Home offers in-home companionship and personal care and assistance to seniors and disabled adults who want to continue to live independently. The Right at Home of Central New Jersey office is a locally owned and operated franchise office of Right at Home, Inc., serving the communities of Middlesex and Northern Monmouth Counties.
For more information, contact Right at Home of Central New Jersey at
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