After someone passes away, the estate administrator is tasked with finding and inventorying all of the decedent’s assets. In years past, the administrator would gather mail for a few months and use the financial statements collected to access bank accounts. Now with most bank customers using online only services and forgoing paper statements to be environmentally conscious, determining where a decedent has banks accounts can be considerably more difficult.
To prevent this issue, we advise clients to include digital asset planning in their comprehensive estate planning. If no digital asset planning was done and no instructions left behind, the estate administrator may be forced to use the services of a digital forensics and analysis firm.
Digital forensics is the process of acquiring and analyzing data stored on computer hard drives, cells phones and other electronics. The data mined may include internet search history, emails, texts, social media posts and correspondence and information stored in the cloud. The data is accessed and preserved in a manner that will be suitable for presentation in a court of law. The goal is to access the information needed while maintaining a documented chain of evidence.
These firms handle a variety of clients other than helping estate administrators locate a deceased person’s digital assets. They also help in criminal investigations and allegations of fraud. They have the capability of finding deleted emails and texts, encrypted files and much more. For the purposes of estate administration, the goal is to locate and inventory all assets and then access and secure those assets. Later the goal will be to transfer the assets to designated beneficiaries in a secure manner.
An experienced estate administration attorney should be overseeing and leading the entire process to ensure that the administrator does not overstep or miss anything. For assistance in administering the estate of a loved one where gaining access to online accounts has become an issue, please contact Stouffer Legal in the Greater Baltimore area.
To prevent this situation from arising, our estate planning attorneys can help you create a digital asset plan that includes specific instructions for accessing all online accounts. This is done in a manner that provides privacy and security until such time the estate administrator needs access. To learn more about how we help develop these digital asset plans while keeping your data secure, you can schedule an appointment by calling us at (443) 470-3599 or emailing us at office@stoufferlegal.com.
