Writing Your Social Media #Will

While writing your will you may think about who will inherit your home, drive your car, or care for your pets.  You may even worry about who will bear the burden of your debt.  With so many things to concern yourself with you may not give a second thought to the afterlife of your social media presence.  But maybe you should.  Years ago this was not an issue, but today social media plays a large role in many of our lives. What happens to your profile and your online presence once you die?

When planning your estate, you may want to appoint an online executor, who will be responsible for handling your online activity – closing e-mail addresses and social media accounts.  This may seem frivolous to some, but with the impact of the internet on our daily lives it is something that must be considered.  Often times Facebook pages and Twitter feeds become impromptu memorials to our deceased loved ones.  Is this what they would have wanted for their profiles? Without a social media component to a will, your loved ones may never know for sure.

Be clear about how you would like your social media profiles handled – whether they should be cancelled completely or left up for friends and family.  When considering your online executor, be a good Facebook friend and leave them a list of your usernames and passwords so that the process will be as painless for your loved ones as possible.

If you already have a will, you can easily add this information as a codicil. If you do not have an estate plan in place, takes the first step by creating a will.  Fields and Dennis can help.  Don’t leave your social media legacy to chance.