Tuesday, June 20, 2017 Probate Track

Rooms: 318-320 Using Our New Digital Assets Act

2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Presented by Joshua Weidemann

O'Connor & Thomas, PC 1000 Main Street

Dubuque, IA 52001 Phone: 563-557-8400

#2461490

VIRTUAL LEGACY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS IN

IOWA.1

I. What Are Digital Assets? Digital assets are accounts, information, media, and documents that are stored electronically, whether on a personal computer, tablet, cellular phone, or in the cloud. When we look at how we deal with our clients’ estate plans and trust and estate administration, we need to consider how to gather information about these assets and how they can be accessed and managed by an agent, whether it is pursuant to a power of attorney, a conservatorship, a trustee, or a personal representative.

A. Computers and their Content. Our computers hold a lot of our information, including documents, financial information, photos, videos, and links to online content.

B. Tablets and Phones and their Content. Our tablets (iPad, Windows Surface, and Android-based tablets) and smart phones contain much the same information as our computers, and they travel with us wherever we go.

C. Social Media. Social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and hobby sites such as Pinterest and Ravelry. Another social app is called “Path.” It is a more private version of the larger social media sites for use by small groups, such as families, clubs, and groups of friends.

D. Photos and Video. Photos and Video, whether stored on the computer locally, or in the cloud, usually through a service such as Flickr or Shutterfly,

E. Contact Lists (Address Books). What we used to keep in paper address books is now often maintained in electronic form.

F. Calendar. Many people maintain their work and home calendars in one or more electronic calendar programs. There are apps that allow family or friends to share or access each other’s calendars.

G. Online Accounts such as Amazon, iTunes, PayPal, Catalog Accounts and the like. Many of us have so many online purchasing accounts it would be difficult to list them all.

1 Portions of this presentation are adapted from Margaret Van Houten and Joshua P. Weidemann’s CLE entitled: “Digital Assets in Estate Planning: What You Need to Know” presented for ALI on a nationwide webinar on May 20, 2014 and are used with permission of the authors.

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H. Online Stores. Many individuals host online stores or sell items online, such as eBay, Etsy and Craigslist. It is important to know if an individual has any business or legal responsibility to fill orders or to deliver goods.

I. Music. Music, whether stored on the computer locally, or in the cloud. A customer may or may not own the music resident on your iTunes or Google Music. If you download from iTunes, you are only ‘renting’ or licensing the music, and they are not transferable, even to your heirs or beneficiaries. If you buy the actual CD and upload to your computer, and then onto iTunes, that music is transferable just as the hard copy would be.

J. YouTube. This site deserves a category of its own. What is the client’s username? What has the client posted? Over 1 Billion unique users visit YouTube each month. Over one hundred hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 16 years of content uploaded every day. Users upload the equivalent of 240,000 full-length films every week. More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks created since their founding.2

K. The Electronic Library. Amazon Kindle, iBooks, Barnes & Noble. Again, many of the eBooks purchased may not be legally transferable as they are only licensed to the user, even if you could figure out how to actually do it.

L. Gaming. These sites not only have individual information, but there is often value built up in some of the games that may be able to be sold for real world currency. In fact, there are cases where property acquired in gaming or virtual worlds has sold for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

M. Electronic Financial Accounts and Account Records. Many of us and many of our clients receive one or more statements from their financial institutions via electronic means. Most of our employee benefits are accessed via the internet. Beneficiary designations are often downloadable electronically and may be submitted in that manner. The information in this category contains confidential information that may be protected by federal privacy laws. Quicken.com and mint.com can be used to aggregate online financial records.

N. Tax Returns. With the advent of Turbo Tax and other computer-generated tax programs, many tax return records are stored on personal computers or on the servers of the tax service. The information stored here is also protected information.

O. Electronic Medical Records. Also in the realm of protected information, this time as a result of medical privacy laws, are any electronic medical records. Many medical providers now offer patients access to medical information via electronic media as well as scheduling and communication with their doctor.

2 Source: http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.

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P. Documents Stored in the Cloud. The most famous app or website to hold documents, pictures, publications, and just about anything that can be electronically stored is Dropbox. Other similar apps or websites include Box.com, Evernote, Microsoft Onenote, Notability, Google Drive, and the photo and video sites listed above.

Q. E-mails. E-mails take the place of what we used to call letters. An email system can be locally stored on a computer or server, such as is the case in many businesses. Both of our offices use Outlook. Most personal -mail accounts are now stored on the email provider’s servers, as is the case with AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and others.

R. Blogs. Does the client maintain a blog? Is it income producing? Could it become income producing? Could it be turned into a book or sold? If something should happen to the client, does the client wish it to be maintained, archived, deleted or some other disposition?

S. Websites. If a website is maintained, the name of the registrar must be kept in a safe place. We need to know whether a website is income producing, whether it needs to be maintained, whether it has value to the owner or the owner’s estate. Does the client own unused domain names?

T. Beware of Automatic Renewals. This includes magazine and journal subscriptions, music sites, and any regular charges.

II. What is the Value of Digital Assets?3

A. Monetary Value. Although we do not think of Digital Assets as having much extrinsic monetary value, there can be significant value associated with certain assets. In addition, since access to many accounts may be based on electronic access, it is going to become more and more important to use that access to efficiently obtain the information about such accounts. In addition, there may be intellectual property rights, such as copyrighted material, domain names, advertising revenue, and “virtual currency.”4 Games oftentimes have some value, either internal or external. There are different types of digital currency, such as Bitcoin, which is a peer to peer currency that has built up substantial value for some individuals and that is now becoming recognized by the IRS as a possible revenue source.

B. Sentimental Value. The electronic pictures and video are important in the same way as photographs have been in the past, whether in albums, in shoe boxes or in slide carousels. Blog posts and social media posts may be as personally

3 These numbers are reprinted from a presentation given by Joshua P. Weidemann, O’Connor & Thomas, P.C., Dubuque, Iowa at the Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel on November 1, 2013. 4 James D. Lamm, “Digital Passing: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave,” Presented at the 58th Annual Estate Planning Seminar, Seattle, Washington, October 21, 2013.

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important as diaries or journals. E-mails and computer-maintained documents are as important as letters or postcards from previous generations.

Historic Value. The issue of how historians and anthropologists will be able to reconstruct a person’s life or the life of a group or population is yet to be seen. There is potential for no information, if not saved, or too much information, if everything is saved.

III. What is Digital Currency and how is it Taxed?

A. Bitcoin is the most ‘well-known’ digital currency but it is not the only one. Basically, an individual can buy a bitcoin (currently for about $2,800.00) from one of the many virtual currency trading services and then use it to buy goods or services. The holding and transfer of virtual currency means that you do not have any tangible evidence of the currency, such as a dollar bill or a coin. The evidence of ownership of the Bitcoin is maintained in a public online ledger which is and protected from issuance of unauthorized bitcoins (or using them twice) by virtue of the ‘ledger’ and the protocol issued by the inventors of Bitcoin.

B. The IRS has recently issued guidance for those using Bitcoins or other virtual currency to buy goods or services.

Notice 2014-21, http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/0325irsbitcoin.pdf. In this Notice, the service announced that it would treat Bitcoin or other virtual currency as property for tax purposes. The IRS reasoned since the virtual currency is not regulated by any government, it would not be treated as currency. As a result of the notice, it is clear that when someone uses or receives bitcoins, it is as if the person (i) used property to pay for goods or services, or (ii) received property in payment for those goods or services. For example, if a person bought a particular amount of bitcoins for $100.00 and then used it to buy $200.00 worth of services, there would be a $100.00 gain on the transaction. Some of the questions answered in the announcement include clarification that virtual currency is not treated as currency for purposes of determining whether a transaction results in foreign currency gain or loss, that a taxpayer who receives virtual currency as payment for goods and services must include the payment in gross income for purposes of income and employment taxes, and that the basis of virtual currency received as payment for goods or services is equal to the fair market value of the virtual currency in U.S. dollars as of the date of the receipt. The fair market value is determined by an exchange rate, if one is available. The announcement also provides that if a taxpayer ‘mines’ virtual currency as a trade or business, any income earned is income subject to self employment taxes.

IV. How do Agents Gain Access, Practically Speaking? When looking at the above types of assets, it is obvious that if an agent cannot obtain access to the computer,

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the device, or the online information, that agent is going to be missing a lot of the principal’s or decedent’s vital information.

A. Storing and Sharing Passwords. The need to store passwords securely, yet allow access when they are needed by someone else (or yourself) is a conundrum. Although it is estimated that approximately 5,000 common passwords would unlock twenty (20) percent of all online accounts, as more online accounts require users to adopt more complex passwords, such as those that contain letters, number, and symbols, it will become nearly impossible to “crack” a deceased user’s password, if the decedent fails to provide access to their agent. The first password to make sure someone can access is the computer or device password.5

There are many ways to store account user names and passwords. One, of course, is a paper list that is updated periodically, and which is maintained in a secure place. Safe deposit boxes are secure, but we usually need to change and add passwords on a regular basis, so they are not practical storage locations. An electronic password vault is often the best way to maintain a list of accounts, user names and passwords. The only password that needs to be maintained outside of the vault is the password to the vault. Some of the commercial password vaults include:

(1) 1Password

(2) mSecure

(3) LastPass

(4) KeePass

(5) RoboForm

The password vault should be encrypted, and may have an ability to automatically fill in the password for accounts. As Jim Lamm points out, this option makes it practical to actually maintain separate strong passwords for each online account.6

Another issue is whether an attorney should be the ‘keeper’ of some or all of this information. Other than the practical issues of the ever-changing nature of the

5 Business passwords will usually have a separate set of requirements, particularly with respect to disclosure of passwords. If personal information is being maintained on a business device or computer, the employer’s policies must be complied with, which may mean that personal information will be lost in case of death or incapacity. 6 Jim Lamm Quoted in Forbes Article on Estate Planning for Passwords and Online Accounts. February 16, 2011. Blog located at www.digitalpassing.com. http://www.digitalpassing.com/2011/02/16/jim-lamm-quoted-forbes-article-estate-planning-passwords-online-accounts/

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information being preserved, the question of safekeeping these documents is the same as the safekeeping of other documents we may or may not wish to keep for our clients. Our own file retention policies are important. As more attorneys opt to keep such personal client information that could be used to access any aspect of client’s life, it is important to maintain adequate oversight of employees who have access to such information and may be advisable to obtain additional insurance coverage to insure against losses associated with maintaining such information.

B. Encryption. If information is encrypted, it is more difficult to obtain access to it. Passwords and log in information must be known to the agent in order to obtain readable information. If an account password is encrypted with 128 bit encryption, it is nearly impossible for someone to discover that password, even running the most automated password decryption software.

C. Online Tools. Some providers, such as Facebook and Google now allow users to name someone to handle the contents of their account after their death or non-use for a period of time. Facebook has a “Legacy Contact” and Google has an “Inactive Account Manager.” Even under RUFADAA, these will control, if the company offers it and the user has agreed to use it.

D. Directions in a user’s power of attorney, will, or trust will control a fiduciary’s access to an account in the absence of an online tool.

E. Practical and Provider Barriers Existing to prevent Access or to Make Access difficult.

(1) Terms of Service Agreements. In some cases, the terms of service prohibit access by anyone other than the owner of the contract. In others, it is prohibited to pass the account on to someone else. The most famous case concerning access to email accounts was In Re Ellsworth, No. 2005 296,651-DE (Mich. Prob. Ct. 2005). In that case, Mr. Ellsworth was a Marine deployed to Iraq. During his tour, he sent and received many emails, pictures and the like. His intention was to compile this correspondence and information when he returned home. He was killed while in Iraq, though, and when his family asked Yahoo to release the information to them, Yahoo refused. The family obtained a probate court order compelling the release of the information and Yahoo complied. Yahoo and other service providers seem to be changing their terms of service to authorize access, either by an agent designated on the service agreement, a ‘beneficiary’ for post-death access, or by a court appointed fiduciary. It appears that the different companies may have different approaches to this change.

(2) Not Knowing what Assets are Owned by the Decedent or Principal. We all should be encouraging our clients to complete an inventory of digital assets along with an inventory of their physical assets.

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(3) Not Knowing the Password. This bears repeating. An individual must have a way to give an agent the usernames and passwords.

(4) Not Knowing what the Individual Wanted. Much like any other estate planning document, a client’s wishes with respect to financial assets, disposition of tangible personal property, and health care directives, it is also important to know what an individual wants to happen to these accounts and information after incapacity or death. The financial accounts will be distributed pursuant to the estate planning documents, but the social media accounts, blogs, and other, less tangible information can be handled in various ways, including:

(a) Closing the Account;

(b) Leaving the Account Open, with new content allowed;

(c) Leaving the Account open, with no new content allowed;

(d) Archive it without allowing the public (or unauthorized group) to see it.

Each of these options may be governed by terms of service as well as federal or state laws.

V. How do Agents Gain Access, Legally Speaking? Even if the agent can obtain access to accounts or computers, it is not always legal to access or work with the electronic information.

A. Current Legislation in effect or proposed that helps or obstructs ability to obtain access to digital assets.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. This Act, also known as the Stored Communications Act, (a) “makes it a crime for anyone to intentionally access without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided as well as to intentionally exceed an authorization to access that facility; and (b) prohibits an electronic communication service or a remote computing service from knowingly divulging the contents of a communication that is stored by or carried or maintained on that service unless disclosure is made to an addressee or intended recipient of such communication or an agent of such addressee or intended recipient or with the lawful consent of the originator or an addressee or intended recipient of such communication, or the subscriber in the case of remote computing service.” 18. U.S.C. § 2701(a) and 2702.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). 18 U.S.C. § 1030. CFAA protects against anyone who “intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds access.” 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a).

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State Criminal Laws. State criminal laws dealing with computer hacking may apply to an agent who, without authorization, accesses online accounts or computer records, even if that agent is otherwise authorized to access the principal’s information.

Violation of Terms of Service. The terms of service of some accounts would prohibit an owner from allowing others to log onto your account. In addition, many employers do not allow access by anyone, other than the employee.

The Information is on a Work Computer. The experts in this area are encouraging individuals to not maintain information on a work computer, as it is very possible that an employer will not authorize access to an agent for security or confidentiality reasons.

VI. What about preservation of these types of assets? In the past, individuals have made determinations to keep certain documents. Less important letters, cards and information was discarded, but other information was kept. In the digital age we have a tendency to keep everything, but do not think about protecting it.

“Should we do nothing, we’re allowing our digital assets to be slowly lost closed down, deleted and removed – a sort of virtual decomposition, until there is nothing left except some scattered fragments that are untraceable to their original sources.”7

The protection of assets includes appropriate storage, computer and cloud backups, and giving permissions for access. Email archives are especially important, since many email account settings automatically delete content after a particular period of time. Online accounts also have delete features if an account or site is not activated or used on a regular basis.

VII. What Commercial Services are available to help individuals deal with their digital assets? 8

Digital Estate Planning Services:

www.assetlock.net

www.securesafe.com

www.estateplusplus.com

www.passwordbox.com

www.mywonderfullife.com

7 Carroll, Evan and Romano, John, Your Digital Afterlife, New Riders, Berkeley, California, 2011. 8 Reprinted with permission of Josh Weidemann.

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Posthumous E-mail Services

www.bcelebrated.com

www.ifidie.org

www.mywonderfullife.com

www.slightlymorbid.com

Posthumous Service to identify digital assets: WebCease, www.webcease.com, is a company that helps executors, trustees and administrators find online accounts that are digital assets for the estate of the deceased. WebCease’s Digital Asset Discovery service identifies the active online accounts and instructs on the different options for retrieval, closure or memorialization in accordance with the policies of each site. WebCease also helps reduce the risk of identity theft. The company estimates that their service can save 15-20 hours of time by the executor, trustee or administrator, and costs $529.00 for a report listing the digital assets.

VIII. How should we advise our clients? What information should we give them? What changes should we make in our documents?

A. Encourage Clients to Complete a Digital Audit, or a Listing of Digital Assets. The information we need to obtain, for each account or asset, includes a name and description of the asset, where it is located, the username and password, and instructions for disposal or use of account when passed. Evan Carroll and John Romano, in their book Your Digital Afterlife, suggest using a spreadsheet such as the following which can be downloaded from their webpage9:

www.yourdigitalafterlife.com/resources.

9 Id. at page 104.

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DIGITAL ASSET INVENTORY Asset Access Wishes

Name Contents Location User Name

Password Instructions Recipient

It would be appropriate to give a client the link to this inventory form along with a listing of the types of digital assets, from Article I, as a starting point.

A. Insert Language in Estate Planning Documents Authorizing Access. The following language in a Will (or modified for a Trust) and Power of Attorney is intended to grant access to digital assets to the Executor10:

Language for a Will:

My Executor shall have the power to access, handle, distribute and dispose of my digital assets. Furthermore, my executor shall have the power to obtain, access, modify, delete and control my usernames, passwords, and any other electronic credentials related to my digital assets or digital devices.

(a) For purposes of this Will, “digital assets” shall include, but not be limited to information created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means on any electronic device that can receive, store, process or send digital information, including but not limited to personal computers, tablets, peripherals, storage devices, cellular telephones, and any other similar device that currently exists or may exist as technology develops in addition to e-mail accounts, digital music files, digital photographs, digital videos, blogs, viogs, written documents, software licenses, social media accounts, file sharing accounts, financial accounts, bank accounts, domain registrations, web hosting accounts, tax preparation and service accounts, online stores, affiliate programs stored on any media in any mode locally or remotely, and any other digital media currently in existence or that may exist as technology develops, regardless of the ownership of the physical device upon which the media is stored.

10 This language is reprinted with permission from a presentation given by Joshua P. Weidemann, O’Connor & Thomas, P.C., Dubuque, Iowa at the Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel on November 1, 2013. The language is also based on the following Article: Nelson, Sharon, RIDE THE LIGHTNING: WHAT SHOULD YOUR WILL SAY ABOUT YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS: http://ridethelighning.sensient.com/2012/04/what-should-your-will-say-about-your-digital-assets.com (September 13, 2013)

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(b) To the extent permitted by law, the powers granted herein shall be considered or deemed to be my consent for all purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C § 2701 et. seq., and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et. seq., corresponding state laws and the Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as they may be amended or substituted from time to time.

Power of Attorney Language

My Agent shall have the power to access, handle, distribute and dispose of my digital assets. Furthermore, my Agent shall have the power to obtain, access, modify, delete and control my usernames, passwords, and any other electronic credentials related to my digital assets or digital devices.

(a) For purposes of this Power of Attorney, “digital assets” shall include, but not be limited to information created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means on any electronic device that can receive, store, process or send digital information, including but not limited to personal computers, tablets, peripherals, storage devices, cellular telephones, and any other similar device that currently exists or may exist as technology develops in addition to e-mail accounts, digital music files, digital photographs, digital videos, blogs, viogs, written documents, software licenses, social media accounts, file sharing accounts, financial accounts, bank accounts, domain registrations, web hosting accounts, tax preparation and service accounts, online stores, affiliate programs stored on any media in any mode locally or remotely, and any other digital media currently in existence or that may exist as technology develops, regardless of the ownership of the physical device upon which the media is stored.

(b) To the extent permitted by law, the powers granted herein shall be considered or deemed to be my consent for all purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C § 2701 et. seq., and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et. seq., corresponding state laws, and the Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as they may be amended or substituted from time to time.

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Conclusion

We are, without doubt, living in a digital age. As time goes on, we will have fewer clients who think they have no digital assets and more who know they would rather not live without them. As attorneys, we need to make sure that our clients can give access to those assets by fiduciaries and can provide for the passage of them in accordance with the client’s wishes.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rex Anderson and Connie J. Mableson, Digital Assets in Estates: Overview and Planning Tools, 4 Probate and Trust Law News, June, 2011.

Evan Carroll and John Romano, Your Digital Afterlife, New Riders, Berkeley, California, 2011. http://www.yourdigitalafterlife.com

Kendal Dobra, An Executor’s Duty Toward Digital Assets, 59 The Practical Lawyer 2, August, 2013

James D. Lamm, Digital Passing: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave, Presented at the 58th Annual Estate Planning Seminar, Seattle, Washington, October 21, 2013.

James D. Lamm Website and Blogs: http://www.digitalassets.com

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By:

Joshua P. Weidemann

O’Connor & Thomas, P.C.

For ISBA Annual Meeting

June 20, 2017

Organization and planning are the basis of everything with respect to ease of estate administration.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

For which assets do you need a plan?  We all know about tangible personal property and residue, but what else?

For those assets that needs plans, how do you organize your wishes?

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Digital images (e.g. stored on Flickr, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Instagram, Kodak Gallery, smartphone, flash drive, or external hardware)—what if those family photo albums only existed digitally?

Electronic accounts (bank, investment, 401(k), IRA, annuities, Paypal, etc.)—how many clients receive one or more statements from banks, brokers, annuity/insurance companies, etc. that now only arrive via e‐mail?

E‐mail Accounts (e.g. Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, etc.)

Social Networking Accounts (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat)

Music (e.g. iTunes)

Medical Records (e.g. electronic medical files for yourself or family members)

Blogs—Does the client blog about something?  Will it continue?

Websites—Does the client own domain names or websites?  What are they used for?  Are they income generating?  Are there carrying costs for the estate?

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The basic human experience influences and has been influenced by the advent of computing and internet technology.

205 Billion e‐mails sent every day.

As of 2016: 78% of US residents have a social media profile. In 2005, 8 % of US adult residents had a social media profile.

2.5 trillion photos will be shred or stored online in 2016.

Instead of that box of old letters in the shoebox under the bed, we now have the e‐mail inbox/trash/sent folders.

For those grieving, the decedent’s memories and life are in the e‐mail accounts.  To not have access to a decedent’s e‐mail account is analogous to not having access to their mailbox at their house.

Ellsworth Case—a Marine in Fallujah, Iraq Terms of Service—what you need to know

Yahoo provides that your e‐mail account is nontransferable and reserves the right to delete your account upon your death.  “You agree that your Yahoo! Account is non‐transferable and any rights to your Yahoo! ID or contents within your account terminate upon your death.  Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all contents therein permanently deleted.”

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Don’t mix business and personal accounts. Leave a list of user names and passwords. What do you want done with your account?

Archive it—who gets the contents? Share it—with whom? Delete it Leave it alone Auto response—what do you want said? Posthumous e‐mail—messages from the grave; Drafts—should they be sent?

If Facebook were a country, it would be the largest country in the world (1.98 billion monthly active users).  

300 million photos uploaded to Facebook daily.

1.13 billion of Facebook users log in at least once per day.  16+ million local business profiles.

What do you want do with the contents? Leave it unchanged (e.g. Twitter—no more tweets);

Provide resolution (e.g. Facebook memorial state);

Let it grow (e.g. let others grow the contents); or

Archive it for others to keep 

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YouTube‐What if a picture was really worth 1,000 words? 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 16 

years of content uploaded every day  Over 6 billion videos are viewed each month  Users upload the equivalent of 240,000 full‐length films every week  More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major 

US networks created since their founding  70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US  YouTube is localized in 56 countries across 61 languages  YouTube's demographic is broad: more 18‐54 year olds have access 

to Youtube than any cable netwwork  1 Billion unique users visit YouTube each month 

Source: http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics (09/8/13)

What if you need access to videos posted by the decedent? Fax or e‐mail to YouTube:

Contact information, including e‐mail address;

User name for decedent’s account;

Copy of death certificate;

Letters of appointment or other document giving authority; and

If user was a minor, a parent may submit a birth certificate to gain access.

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Banks, Brokers, Insurance companies, etc. all send electronic statements. PayPal‐Your account is linked directly to your e‐mail and often to your checking account, credit card, or other accounts

Personal management accounts (e.g. Mint.com) Online purchases and earnings Automatic renewal issues for subscriptions

Bitcoins—Currently trading for approximately $2,800.00 USD. Blockchain technology‐the transactions are immediately verified by the blockchain users by verifying “keys” or algorithms.

Bitcoin owners can provide that transfers can be completed by the happening of an event (i.e recipient obtaining a certain age or accomplishing a verifiable goal) or by unlocking the Bitcoin with the correct “key”.

Bitcoin is not taxed as currency.

Other virtual currencies utilizing blockchain technology are now beginning to be used by financial institutions to speed up transactions across the globe.

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Language for Wills: (1) My Executor shall have the power to access, handle, distribute and 

dispose of my digital assets.  Furthermore, my executor shall have the power to obtain, access, modify, delete, and control my usernames, passwords, and any other electronic credentials related to my digital assets or digital devices.

(a) For purposes of this Will, “digital assets” shall include, but not be limited to information created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means on my digital devices.  For purposes of this Will “digital devices” shall mean any electronic device that can receive, store, process, or send digital information, including, but not limited to personal computers, tablets, peripherals, storage devices, cellular telephones, and any other similar device that currently exists or may exist as technology develops in addition to e‐mail accounts, digital music files, digital photographs, digital videos, blogs, vlogs, written documents, software licenses, social media accounts, file sharing accounts, financial accounts, bank accounts, domain registrations, web hosting accounts, tax preparation and service accounts, online stores, affiliate programs, stored on any media in any mode locally or remotely, and any other digital media currently in existence or that may exist as technology develops, regardless of the ownership of the physical device upon which the media is stored.  

(b) To the extent permitted by law, the powers granted herein shall be considered or deemed to be my consent for all purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §2701 et seq. and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. §1030 et seq., corresponding state laws, and the Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as they may be amended or substituted from time to time.

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Powers of Attorney My Agent shall have the power to access, handle, modify, utilize, 

distribute and dispose of my digital assets.  Furthermore, my Agent shall have the power to obtain, access, modify, delete, and control my usernames, passwords, and any other electronic credentials related to my digital assets or digital devices.  For purposes of this Power of Attorney, “digital assets” shall include, but not be limited to files stored on my digital devices.  For purposes of this Power of Attorney, “digital devices” shall mean any electronic device that can receive, store, process, or send digital information, including, but not limited to personal computers, tablets, peripherals, storage devices, cellular telephones, and any other similar device that currently exists or may exist as technology develops in addition to e‐mail accounts, digital music files, digital photographs, digital videos, blogs, vlogs, written documents, software licenses, social media accounts, file sharing accounts, financial accounts, bank accounts, domain registrations, web hosting accounts, tax preparation and service accounts, online stores, affiliate programs, stored on any media in any mode locally or remotely, and any other digital media currently in existence or that may exist as technology develops, regardless of the ownership of the physical device upon which the media is stored.  

To the extent permitted by law, the powers granted herein shall be considered or deemed to be my consent for all purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq., corresponding state laws, and the Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as they may be amended or substituted from time to time.

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Guardianship Orders: Include language similar to Wills and Powers of Attorney language.  However, consider whether and to what extent the Guardian would/should have access to social media accounts, particularly with respect to posting items on the Ward’s account.  To that same end, consider whether and to what extent the Ward should have the ability to post items on their own social media accounts, blogs, e‐mails, etc.

Encourage the client to provide a list of user names and passwords to accounts as well as instructions relating to the account’s disposition.

Format for instructions:

User Names, Passwords, who is to do what with them?

What do you do with instructions?

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Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act Uniform Law Commission drafting committee worked on a draft act between November 2012 and July 2015.

The Act was revised in June 2015 an approved at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Commission in July 2015.

The Revised Act  for Iowa was signed by Governor Branstad on April 20, 2017.

Online Tools

RUFADAA

Recent Cases to further define privacy expectations of users of digital assets

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Digital Estate Planning Services www.assetlock.net www.estateplusplus.com www.securesafe.com www.mypasswordbox.com www.mywonderfullife.com

Posthumous E‐mail Services www.bcelebrated.com

www.ifidie.org

www.mywonderfullife.com

www.slightlymorbid.com

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EVAN CARROLL & JOHN ROMANO, YOUR DIGITAL AFTERLIFE: WHEN FACEBOOK, FLICKR AND TWITTER ARE YOUR ESTATE, WHAT’S YOUR LEGACY? (New Riders 2011)

RICHARD MAGNONE, THE ELLSWORTH CASE WITH YAHOO!, http://www.illinoisattorneyblog.blogspot.com (November 9, 2010)

JUSTIN ATWATER, WHO OWNS E‐MAIL? DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE THE DISPOSITION OF YOUR PRIVATE DIGITAL LIFE? (2006 Utah Law Review 397) 

DEIRDRE WHEATLEY‐LISS, YOU DIE – YOUR PASSWORDS AND USER NAMES DIE WITH YOU, http://www.njelderlawestateplanning.com (January 23, 2007)

SAABIRA CHAUDHURI, READ THIS BEFORE YOU DIE, http://online.wsj.com (July 7, 2011)

MICHAEL WALKER, ESQ., & VICTORIA BLACHLY, ESQ., VIRTUAL ASSETS (Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal 2011)

HULL AND HULL, LLP, TORONTO ESTATE LAW BLOG,http://estatelaw.hullandhull.com (October 17, 2011)

GERRY W. BEYER ed., TWENTY‐FIVE DOCUMENTS TO LEAVE BEHIND FOR LOVED ONES, http://lawprofessors.typepad.com (July 6, 2011)

NATHAN J. DOSCH & JOSEPH W. BOUCHER, E‐LEGACY: ESTATE PLANNING FOR DIGITAL ASSETS (Wisconsin Lawyer Vol. 83 No. 12, December 2010)

NAOMI CAHN, POSTMORTEM LIFE ON‐LINE (Probate & Property July/August 2011)

ROBERT C. ADAMSKI, NEW FLORIDA POWER OF ATTORNEY STATUTE TAKES EFFECT OCTOBER 1, http://www.floridaprobatelitigationlawyers.com (September 1, 2011)

LAW OFFICES OF DAVID A. SHULMAN, P.L., ESTATE PLANNING FOR YOUR DIGITAL LIFE, OR, WHY LEGACY LOCKER IS A BIG FAT LAWSUIT WAITING TO HAPPEN, http://www.sofloridaestateplanning.com (March 21,2009)

EXECUTOR’S RESOURCE, INC., THE DIGITAL ESTATE PLAN: ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST, http://executorsresource.blogspot.com (March 5, 2010)

PEW INTERNET: SOCIAL NETWORKING, http://pewinternet.org (August 5, 2013)

SHARON NELSON, RIDE THE LIGHTNING: WHAT SHOULD YOUR WILL SAY ABOUT YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS, http://ridethelightning.sensient.com/2012/04/what‐should‐your‐will‐say‐about‐your‐digital‐assets.com (September 13, 2013)

JAMES LAMM: http://www.digitalpassing.com (May 12, 2014)

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Remember, What happens on social media stays on Google forever.

© Joshua P. Weidemann, O’Connor & Thomas, P.C., Dubuque, Iowa. 563-557-8400; jweidemann@octhomaslaw.com.

Portions of this presentation are adapted from Margaret Van Houten and Joshua P. Weidemann’s CLE entitled: “Digital Assets in Estate Planning: What You Need to Know” presented for ALI on a nationwide webinar on May 20, 2014 and are used with permission of the authors.