John G. Ullman & Associates, Inc.

So how many logins and passwords do you have? Be honest; can you count them all? Now think about your end-of-life planning and all the preparations you have made for that inevitable event. Have you considered your online accounts, at least the ones that materially impact those who become your personal representatives at your death? These “digital assets” can represent so many aspects of your life: monetary, social, purchasing destinations, storage of business records, photographs – even airline accounts that contain frequent flyer miles and points worth hundreds of dollars, if not more.

Tying up the loose ends of a deceased person’s life online is one of the toughest chores grieving family and friends must face. There is no federal statute which requires internet providers to allow post-death access.

It is time to make that list which contains an inventory of your digital assets and how to access them. Once created, it will need to be updated as passwords expire, or as you open or close online accounts. For the obvious problem of potential identity theft if this information is mishandled, proper storage is key, and the same solution may not work for everyone. One option is to keep the list in a safe deposit box. There are for-pay online sites that securely encrypt and store documents. Ideally, a copy of the list could be given to a trusted person, or possibly different types of password access lists are given to different people (financial sites to an impartial, mature person and social sites to another who is trusted to handle this sensitive information responsibly).

Finally, a new trend is to name a “Digital Executor” in your Will, and to have a Power of Attorney (should you be incapacitated) for your non-financial digital assets. Provide written instructions as to how you would want your digital existence handled post death: deactivate accounts, remain as a memorial, a final message, etc. Be aware however, that each site will likely have terms-of-service policies that can take precedent over user’s wishes.

On a beautiful day in May this past spring, my husband arrived in Austin, Texas for a business meeting. After checking into his hotel room he had a couple of hours to go for a run before his dinner meeting. The concierge suggested a pedestrian walk-run path along Lady Bird Lake. There were lots of pedestrians on the trail that beautiful day, walkers and runners, and my husband was enjoying his stretch of the legs. He was at mile three when he heard unexpected loud noises and turned to look back behind him. In a flash he saw a woman lunging toward him, after she hit the windshield of a car and was propelled forward landing only a few feet in front of him. A car driven by a 21 year old, who had taken Xanax and had fallen asleep, had plowed through the crowd, killing an 80 year old World War II veteran and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel who was walking while holding hands with his daughter, then crashed into Diana, a 47 year old woman who was on a walk. My husband had passed Diana by only three or four steps when the crash occurred. She fell at his feet and he stayed with her until the medical team took her away.

Is this the type of situation we EVER expect on a bright sunny day during a jog? No, it’s not. But the unexpected happens all the time. And sometimes the expected happens. When our family members are failing due to medical conditions and we know what “probably might happen” or “what eventually will happen” we just can’t think about it, and certainly don’t want to talk about it or plan for it.

When my husband called me that night to tell me what happened on the running trail, I was full of emotion and logic. As a wife and a mother, I was incredibly thankful that he was alright and out of harm’s way. As an estate attorney and planner for all things that can go wrong, I couldn’t help but think that if he were a mere few feet in another direction that I would be pulling out our estate planning documents to either prepare for his funeral and my future as a widow and single mother or to plan my trip to Texas to make his medical decisions. In either event, I was ready. I was ready with my estate plan and I ask the question “Are YOU Ready?”

If the answer is “No,” you should create an estate plan that best prepares your loved ones for your incapacity or your death. Preparing a Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy are both critical in the event you are incapacitated or disabled, even for a short amount of time. The Health Care Proxy allows an agent to make your medical decisions if you can no longer speak for yourself. Under New York State law, your agent can only make your medical decisions if you are incapacitated. If you are in a coma, for instance, who is the person you would want to decide the critical issues about your medical care? The Power of Attorney allows your agent to manage your finances, things such as monthly bill paying, signing medical insurance forms and income tax documents, applying for Medicaid and the like. Some of these powers are critical if the incapacity is long term or permanent.

Preparing a Last Will and Testament will create the plan for who will receive and how they will receive your personal property, real property and financial assets. This can be a very simple or a more complicated document. Some of the issues a Last Will and Testament can address after your death are as follows:

1. Who will receive your valuable or sentimental personal property.
2. Trust terms for younger and older beneficiaries who might need assistance with handling their inheritance for a short term or for their lifetimes.
3. Bequests to a disabled or Special Needs beneficiary such that local, State and Federal benefits are not interrupted.
4. Reduction of estate tax liability, if applicable.
5. Can provide for the not so obvious family members, the family pets.
6. Names the Guardian for your minor children – who will raise them in your absence?
7. Names your Executors and Trustees; those who will be the fiduciaries, or the people who are responsible for the initial collecting and accounting for your assets, completing your personal and estate income tax returns, your estate tax returns, accounting to the beneficiaries, distributing your estate, managing the bequest to those inheriting under trust, just to list a few of their obligations.

A Last Will and Testament can be tailored to your specific family needs and circumstances. The terms of your will can be changed easily as time goes by and your family needs change. Additionally, the cost of preparing a Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy is much less expensive than what a legal Guardianship proceeding would cost in the event you are incapacitated with no Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy.

At John G. Ullman & Associates, your Account Executive is able to assist you in bringing an estate plan into focus so that you can feel informed and comfortable when meeting with an estate planning attorney. In fact, if you wish we can be part of that meeting. None of us expects the unexpected. But every day people are in situations they don’t expect. Please contact your Account Executive to schedule an appointment to initiate discussions if “You Are Not Ready.”

In a recent conversation with my father, a friendly debate arose on a topic that (I believe) clearly is biased by generation – cash or credit.

Since I am the author of this blog, I will state my opinion first.  I argue, why even bother printing paper and coin any more?  Without any proof or shred of statistical information (isn’t that how good arguments always go?!), I stated my belief that electronic forms of payment out number payments made by paper check and cash (including coins).  If we no longer need to print paper money, the Country could save significant dollars as well as enhance security.  I know what you’re thinking…identity theft (I’ll save my advice and thoughts on that for another blog).  Cash is bearer currency — You hold it, it’s yours, if it drops out of your pocket, it’s gone.  Someone uses my card; there is security in place that will limit my loss. My argument for becoming a cashless society – convenience, efficiency and security; paper money is an outdated method of payment and we need to move on.

My father’s points are actually quite similar for keeping paper currency.  The number one being the reliability factor – when you’re in a pinch, cash is still king.  In an emergency situation, it is always best to have cash on hand. He also believes it is just more convenient to use cash rather than a credit or debit card.  This is clearly a generational difference of opinion.

The conversation continued — You don’t have to think very hard to come up with an example for why his argument holds true today — Super Storm Sandy.  Access to cash via ATM, or trying to use a credit card when power is gone is impossible. Another example Dad gave brought me back to when I was a kid living in Watertown, New York (aka, snow country).  It was actually dubbed at one point Snow Town USA.  There was a year that we had an ice storm that shut everything down for at least a week and probably more.  People needed supplies and power was down.  He reminded me of how we were able to walk to the store on the corner and they accepted only cash; they were not able to process electronic payments. Good old fashioned hard cold cash saved the day – it definitely had an advantage in that situation. Tough to argue with that example!

Could we operate on only electronic payments, or is cash and paper checks still necessary? I have a feeling the debate will go on for years to come.