Technology Inventory

I've been combing the web looking for other estate planning and probate weblogs, and have pretty much come up empty -- except for Professor Gerry W. Beyer's very interesting Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog.  In my most recent newsletter (which should appear on the articles page of my website in the next week or two), I wrote about the importance of organizing your financial information prior to death.  Professor Beyer takes this recommendation into the digital age by discussing Susan B. Shor's article entitled "Digital Property and the Law of Inheritance," in which Ms. Shor recommends keeping a list of your internet passwords, important URLs, etc. that friends and/or family can access in case of emergency.  Professor Beyer adds that such a list should be kept in a safe place with your other important documents.  Professor Beyer's post can be found here; Ms. Shor's article can be found here.

This issue can be described as "ripped from the headlines," given the publicity around Yahoo's refusal to allow the family of a Marine killed in Iraq to access the Marine's e-mail account.

I think the larger idea is that we all have a duty to make things as easy as possible on those who survive us.  Death is a difficult thing to deal with -- adding practical concerns (what did dad or mom own? how can we pay the funeral bills? how can we access our son's e-mail?) just makes things worse for our survivors. 

Comments

[Jill]

I couldn't agree with you more about organizing your information prior to death.
That is why I've started Estate Legacy Vaults -www.estatelegacyvaults.com
We are building software now, essential an information map and database of your most vital information.
But more than your financial information that must be organized, there's also your medical history and what I call your personal legacy archives, evidence of the life you lived, what and who you loved, the lessons you want to pass on. You should take a gander at my blog Legacy Matters, www.estatevaults.com/lm to see what I mean.
Congrats on starting an estate planning blog, it's way overdue

[Joel S.]

Thank you, Jill. Speaking as an estate planner and an amateur genealogist, your idea is a really good one. I wish some of my ancestors had thought about leaving such a historical record.