Intro to Digital Legacy
It is no secret that the internet has fundamentally reshaped how we interact with death, grief, and remembrance. This online shift presents both opportunities and challenges for navigating life’s final chapter. As Coloradan’s lives become increasingly intertwined with the digital world, the importance of preparing for our “digital afterlife” cannot be understated. In Colorado, like most states, estate planning now encompasses not just physical assets but also our online footprint, including social media accounts, email, financial holdings, and digital media. Digital legacy is a term referred to as the digital data that is available about someone following their death. You can think of your digital legacy as your online footprint and lasting digital reflection of your identity. Beyond physical possessions, your online presence contributes to your enduring digital legacy.
While the legal landscape surrounding digital assets is still evolving, there are several key points that Colorado residents should be aware of:
Colorado Laws Regarding Digital Legacy:
Colorado’s Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, C.R.S. §§ 15-1-1501 et seq. Enacted in 2016, this is the law that governs who may reach your accounts after your death or incapacity, and on what terms. It sets a three-tier order: a direction given through a platform’s own tool comes first, provided the tool lets you change that direction at any time. An instruction in your will, trust, or power of attorney comes second. The service’s terms of use apply only where you have given neither.
The act also separates two kinds of access. A fiduciary can generally obtain a catalogue of your accounts and communications. Reaching the content of those communications generally takes your explicit consent, given through a platform tool or in specific language in your planning documents, and without it your representative may need a court order.
Managing Your Digital Assets:
Two Platform Tools Do Most of the Work
Facebook Legacy Contact. You name someone who can manage your memorialized account, which you set up in Facebook’s Legacy Contact settings. They can write a pinned post, respond to friend requests, and update your profile and cover photos.
Google Inactive Account Manager. In your Google account settings you choose a contact and an inactivity period, and after that period Google notifies them and lets them download data from the services you select.
Apple offers a comparable Digital Legacy setting, and other platforms are adding their own. All of these are set up directly in the account settings, not through your estate documents.
Name Someone in Your Estate Documents As Well
A platform setting covers one service. A digital representative named in your will, trust, or power of attorney can handle accounts that offer no tool of their own.
The order matters, and it runs the opposite way from what most people assume. Under Colorado’s digital assets act, a direction you give through a platform’s own tool overrides a contrary instruction in your will, as long as the tool lets you change that setting at any time, which the major platforms’ tools do. So if you name one person as your Facebook Legacy Contact and a different person in your estate documents, Facebook’s setting wins. Keep the two consistent, and revisit the platform settings when you update the will.
One more distinction worth knowing. Reaching the content of your emails and messages generally takes your explicit consent, given through a platform tool or in specific language in your planning documents. Without it, your representative may need a court order, or may be limited to a record of who you communicated with rather than what was said.
Estate Planning Attorneys:
- Consulting with a seasoned estate planning attorney in Colorado can ensure your digital assets are properly addressed in your will or trust. This personalized guidance can help navigate legal complexities and ensure your wishes are clearly communicated. An Estate Planning Attorney will offer guidance on identifying and documenting your digital holdings, selecting beneficiaries, and setting access permissions.
Challenges and Considerations:
Legal complexities:
- The laws and regulations surrounding digital assets are still evolving, requiring careful consideration and potentially adapting your plan over time. We recommend you consult with a reputable and innovative estate planning attorney to help set up your digital legacy for success.
Technology changes:
- As technology continues and is expected to evolve, new platforms and services may emerge, necessitating updates to your plan and ensuring your designated beneficiaries have access.
Privacy concerns:
- Balancing access with privacy is crucial, especially when dealing with sensitive information. Carefully consider who you grant access to and what information you share online.
Taking Action on Your Digital Legacy:
Identify your digital assets:
- Take inventory of your online accounts, including social media, email, financial holdings, and any valuable digital content. We recommend you also revisit our will and estate planning every few years to ensure you have covered all your newest social accounts.
Create an inventory, but not a password list.
List the accounts themselves, what each holds, and whether it has a legacy tool you have set up. Keep credentials in a password manager and give your representative a way to reach that manager, rather than writing passwords into a document.
There is a legal reason for this, not only a security one. Authority to access an account comes from the platform tool or your estate documents, not from possessing the password. A representative who logs in with inherited credentials may be acting outside what the law permits, even with good intentions. A will can also become a public court record once it is filed for probate, so nothing sensitive belongs in it.
Choose a digital heir or personal representative:
- Designate a trusted agent to manage your digital assets after your death.
Utilize platform-specific tools:
- Take advantage of features offered by social platforms like Facebook and Google to manage your digital legacy.
Review and update your plan regularly:
- As technology changes and your circumstances evolve, revisit and update your digital estate plan periodically.
Where to Start
Set the platform tools first, since those take priority and cost nothing. Then make sure your will or trust says what you want for everything else, in language specific enough for a provider to act on.
Schedule a free consultation and we will look at what your current documents actually cover.