UPDATED 12:55 EDT / DECEMBER 31 2013

5 must ask tech questions for 2014 : Legacy + digital asset protection

On average, there are 208,300 photos being uploaded to Facebook every minute. That’s about 350 million a day, or 2.4 billion a week, all amounting to a total of 9 billion photos per month. As staggering as those figures are, things aren’t slowing down. A recent report by Yahoo! stated that in 2014, there will be about 880 billion photos taken if we continue with the current trend of digitally capturing nearly every moment of our lives.

These permanent memories are precious representations that become all the more appreciated when our lives end.  And in this era of social media privacy concerns, preparing our digital assets for the great equalizer is becoming increasingly important. What happens to our personal data when we die? Will our immediate family members be able to access that digital data, or will the services legally prevent them from doing so?

Preparing for the inevitable

 

Family Archival Solutions is a service that deals with this exact scenario.  Taking care of your business so family members don’t have so much trouble securing your data.  There are other “digital afterlife” services available, but most of them deal with protecting access to online accounts and passwords of the deceased.

With your security in mind, as well as the peace of mind for the people around you, FAS announced the launch of Legacy Planner 360, the most comprehensive and secure family crisis and end-of-life planning service that helps protect personal legacies and save families from additional stress, conflict, wasted time, and unnecessary expenses during and after a crisis and/or loss of a family member.

“Simply put, we help save families from additional stress during and after the loss of a family member” said Mark Nicholas, CEO and co-founder of Family Archival Solutions.  “Our service is designed to protect family members’ legacies, find their assets, preserve their digital storage, and carry out their special wishes without creating unnecessary risks of confusion, conflict, delay, bias or misconduct that often occur after a loved one passes away. We help families mitigate these risks so they can enjoy spending more time celebrating the precious memories of their loved ones.”

It’s not easy to prepare for things in the future, especially when it comes to your own imminent death.  According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, $33 billion in total property and cash remains unclaimed, including abandoned safety deposit boxes, inactive checking and savings accounts, uncashed checks, and forgotten stocks, bonds, and/or dividends among other assets.   The majority of unclaimed insurance and assets will never be claimed.

Legacy Planner 360 offers digital and physical asset storage, assistance in proprietary claims process, legal advice, physical document protection, Department of Defense-level of encrypting digital files, verification protocols so your assets will not fall into the wrong hands, home inventory tracking and a lot more.

Below are a few pieces of advice for managing digital assets that Legacy Planner CEO Mark Nicholas shared with us:

 5 Questions for  Legacy + Digital Asset Protection

 

1) During and after a crisis and/or the loss of a family member, who rightfully owns and has access to our online content and accounts?  

In general, everything owned by an individual during life continues to be owned by the individual’s estate after death. This means that either a representative of the individual or the individual’s estate would have the right to access online content and accounts. The terms of use of many online accounts change this as a matter of contract; some permitting designated beneficiaries and others terminating the account altogether.

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2) How can we save stress, costs and time while ensuring we quickly find, properly claim and transfer all digital and physical assets?

Events surrounding the loss of a loved one include the requirement to quickly gather documents, inventory assets and get a grip on the loved one’s affairs even while managing the emotions surrounding loss and the planning of the final arrangements.  Difficulties in identifying documents, assets or the affairs are far worse than a mere distraction, but risk the creation of tremendous stress, increased costs (and financial pressures) and oftentimes conflict. Family Archival Solutions (FAS), which provides the most comprehensive and secure family crisis and end-of-life planning tools available, is designed to immediately and completely address these stress and conflict triggers.

In addition to document location tracking and storage, financial, asset inventories and digital accounts (including account and access information) and complete reports to assist the families and estates to save stress and cost, FAS delivers instructions, emails and videos to loved ones. Using legal expertise and world-class technology, FAS delivers complete piece of mind by helping to ensure that important details are efficiently and properly handled during moments of loss. Family members simply create an account and provide the recommended information in a series of intuitive steps using an easy-to-follow dashboard.  Using verification protocols similar to (and often exceeding) those used by financial institutions to validate the identity of the claim, the claimant, and its circumstances, FAS ensures the right information is safely and securely provided for the individual’s benefit. See here for a full product tour.

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3) How do we ensure our loved ones’ special wishes and our estate plans are executed as intended?

Family Archival Solutions allows individuals to protect their personal legacies and deliver special wishes via letters, emails, and/or personal videos sent confidentially to designated loved ones.  The service is designed to help save photos and videos, memories and legacies, and works for the sole purpose of helping families and estates find and all physical and digital assets properly, legally and efficiently.  With the reassurance of Legacy Planner 360, individuals can be confident that everything, including the family itself, is being protected.

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4) Are digital documents enough?

No. We continue to live in a physical world and the majority of family assets and worth are entirely physical. The preservation of family assets starts by ensuring that those assets are found.

  When it comes to digital storage of documentation, few families realize that digital-only versions of wills and other estate documents may not be permitted in their jurisdiction and could ultimately make the estate administration process far more expensive and cumbersome.  That’s why Legacy Planner 360 also stores and protects physical documents in one of the most secure environments in the world, ensuring a smooth asset recovery and transition process for families.

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5) How do we verify the identity of a claimant?

The Family Archival Solutions claims process is designed to be more secure than that of most financial institutions. The claims requirements depend on the nature of the claim. In all cases, FAS utilizes a multi-factor authentication process. If the account owner designated a particular individual, FAS will verify the identity of the individual and utilize identifying information provided by the account owner as well as the circumstances surrounding the claim. For estates and administrators, FAS will not only verify the circumstances, administrator identity but also (among other things) the appointing court documents appointing the estate representative. Through a tailored claims process, FAS strives to ensure that information is securely maintained and utilized solely for the purpose it is intended.

Family Archival Solutions offers a cost-effective fee instead of having families or individuals pay monthly fees.  FAS offers three service plans:  Basic  which costs $79.99, Premium for $149.99, and Concierge for $1,299.  Check out the full comparison of the plans here.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney via photopin cc
photo credit: AlicePopkorn via photopin cc
photo credit: e.g.gatsby via photopin cc

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