Tag Archives: digital property

Jim Lamm Presents on Estate Planning for Passwords, Online Accounts, and Digital Property at 2011 Heckerling Institute

On Wednesday, January 12, 2011, I presented a ninety–minute seminar titled “Estate Planning 2.0: Digital Property and Tech–Savvy Clients—Time to Reboot Your Practice” with Karin C. Prangely at the 45th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, Florida. We … Continue reading

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Conduct a Digital Fire Drill to Identify Important or Valuable Digital Property

When I talk with people about doing estate planning for their digital property—their passwords, online accounts, computers, smartphones, and electronic data—I sometimes ask them to conduct a “digital fire drill”: If your computer is lost, stolen, or damaged today, what … Continue reading

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Article in The New York Times: “Cyberspace When You’re Dead”

On January 5, 2011, The New York Times posted “Cyberspace When You’re Dead,” by Rob Walker. It’s a well-written overview of the problems of a person’s death and leaving behind a Twitter account, Facebook account, e-mails, and video games characters … Continue reading

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Man Charged With Felony for Reading Wife’s E-Mails

A December 26, 2010, news story from the Detroit Free Press reports that a Michigan man was charged with a felony for reading his wife’s e–mails from her free Google Gmail account. He was charged under Michigan Compiled Laws § 752.795, … Continue reading

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Financial Value in Trademarks and Domain Names

A December 8, 2010, auction in New York offered 170 business names, product names, and Internet domain names that aren’t being used anymore. Some of these names were recent products and companies, like Infoseek, an Internet search engine company that … Continue reading

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Oklahoma Statute Gives Executor Power Over Decedent’s Online Accounts

Oklahoma Statutes § 58–269, which took effect November 1, 2010, gives the executor of an estate power over a decedent’s online accounts and purports to give new rights to continue a decedent’s online accounts: § 58–269. Executor or administrator—Powers. The executor or … Continue reading

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92% of Children Under Age Two Have a Digital Presence on the Internet

In a September 2010 study by AVG Technologies and Research Now, they found that, in the United States, 92% of children under age two have a digital presence on the Internet, including digital photos posted online. According to AVG Technologies, … Continue reading

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Estate Planning for Web Pages and Blogs

If a person becomes incapacitated or dies, look for any Web pages or blogs that the person operated. As most people know, a blog is a personal or business Web page with posted news items, reviews, or personal comments about … Continue reading

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Estate Planning for Domain Names

Registered domain names are the words, letters, or numbers that we use to refer to an Internet address, such as Google.com or Yahoo.com. An individual or business can register an available name with a domain name registrar for a fixed … Continue reading

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Study Finds Same Passwords Used on Multiple Online Accounts by Most People

While the results aren’t too surprising, BitDefender issued a press release on August 9, 2010, concluding that 75% of users that they studied had the same password for both their e–mail accounts and their social networking accounts (link). Although this … Continue reading

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