Do you use Facebook, Twitter, or Amazon? Do you bank online? Use Google, have an Apple account?
These are Digital Assets and they have personal and financial value to you. Because they have value, these assets need to be identified and protected in the event you become incapacitated and when you pass away.
Gone are the days when your agent under a Power of Attorney or the Personal Representative of your Estate can stand by your mailbox and wait to see where you keep your money or what bills are due. Most of us don’t even get much mail anymore!
Florida has recently enacted the “Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act”. This law allows gives our representatives the ability to access our digital assets by allowing us to direct the disclosure of these assets and in some cases, to obtain the content of these assets. Prior to the enactment of this law, representatives often had to go to Court and obtain a Court Order directing the bank or social media company to disclose the incapacitated or deceased’s person’s accounts.
What this means is that your Will and Durable Power of Attorney should be updated to include the language required by the statute. If your documents are older than 2016, and you do ANYTHING online, you should consult a lawyer to update your documents. The cost should be minimal and far less than going to Court!
Questions? The Law Office of Debra Simms is here to help. Call us today with questions. 386.256.4882
