When considering an estate plan most of us consider what will happen to our bank accounts, personal item, real estate and other physical assets, but it may not occur to us to consider how we would like our digital assets to be managed or accessed after we die. A recent story from ABC Channel 15 News in Phoenix highlights some concerns regarding how your Facebook and other digital assets should be considered when making these types of plans.

Of course many have not yet taken the leap into the digital world to establish a Twitter or Facebook presence or to author a blog. But for those who have, there has often been a considerable amount of time and effort that has gone into making personal and professional connections. After years of developing an online identity it is important to consider what you would like to happen to it after you are gone.

For those who use digital resources as part of their business or professional service your profiles and follows can be a valuable asset that you may want to seamlessly transfer. If planning for the disposition of your other professional assets is important part of your future estate it is important to consider how these digital assets will be distributed.

Many of us do not use these various tools for our business but do have online tolls that we use to communicate with friends and family. For these online assets you should think about whether you would like them to be taken down, or for some of them transformed into something else like a memorial page. Either way it is important that you make available an accounting of any online accounts you use actively and instructions for a person of your choosing to access them.

Source: Phoenix ABC News 15 "More wills now including digital assets" Tim Vetscher, April 11, 2011