From Medical Treatment To Electronic Footprints-What Happens When You Die?

The massacre in Arizona over the weekend, resulting in the death of six individuals and the critical injuries of others to the severe winter storms causing deadly accidents throughout the country; are unfortunate reminders to plan for your own death.  Too many individuals and families have not planned for death or severe injury. Have you decided what you are going to do with your property? What about making medical decisions if you are unable to make them for yourself? Who will take care of your children? What do you want to happen to your electronic life?

Planning for your own death is something that most people do not do until they are older or diagnosed with a terminal illness. Unfortunately a large number of people die due to unforeseen incidents, whether an illness or accident. Everyone needs to prepare for their death and make their wishes known. If you have minor children you need a Will. It is important that you designate who you want to be the guardian of your children if you pass away before they reach the age of majority.

Who will decide what medical treatment you receive?

Have you decided whether you want extraordinary measures used if you are unable to make medical decisions for yourself? These are things that every person should decide. Ages 25-34 have the highest rate of death from motor vehicle accidents according to the national Vital Statistics Report. Most 25-34 year old have not completed any estate planning or designated a decision maker for health decisions or properly completed an advanced health care directive.

An advanced Health Care Directive is a legal form that you fill you that designates who can make decisions on your behalf. It also makes your wishes known about being kept on life support, organ donation and final health care decisions. Everyone should have an advanced health care directive and should keep copies of the directive with their regular physician, a copy with the person you designate to make decisions, a copy in your glove box and if you have a community hospital that you use, in your records there. Have conversations with your parents, spouse, significant others, siblings and close friends. Let them know your wishes. (Don't forget to discuss burial vs. cremation vs. donation of body to medical science).  You can find sample directives online or call an estate planning attorney.

Who will be given your personal items?

If you have belongings that you want to give to a specific person-you need to make that clear in writing; whether in a Will, Trust or by other means. If you have things that you do not want your family and friends to know about; it is important to designate who is responsible for taking care of those items in your absence. If you fail to plan for your death, the Courts will be forced to make those decisions for you. Failure to plan gives all of the important decisions over to someone who may not know you. Your belongings will be gone through and distributed according to statute and state law.

What do you want to happen to your Electronic Footprints?

Electronic footprints are something that most people do not think about prior to their death. Have you decided what you want to happen to your emails? Blogs? Facebook page? What about online banking? Do you have a paypal account? Have you sold an item on Amazon? Where is your bank account information? Who do you want to have access to the information? Do you want it preserved or destroyed? Have you asked someone to take control of your electronic information after you die? Have you made a list of log in information and passwords? So much of our lives are online and will need to be dealt with after we die.

Every website has a policy or procedure that deals with your content and privacy and what will happen after you die. Check the website for details. For example Gmail will release control of your email to someone after they prove that they have the right to access. They will have to prove that you have died, had contact by email in the past, have the legal right (next of kin or designated individual), etc. You can bypass those requirements by giving access to a designated person before you die by sharing the password and log in. Or if you want privacy during life, make a list of passwords and log in's and keep it in a safe and secure location. Hotmail will delete any accounts after a period of inactivity. Facebook will not grant access but will permit the next of kin or designated individual the ability to delete the page or turn a page into a memorial. Yahoo will not release access to anyone but will allow the account to be deleted.  **Check the policies related to your accounts to understand and know what will happen.

A good estate planning attorney can assist you in making the decisions. You should have a Will and a letter of instruction no matter your level of assets. A letter of instruction is a letter from you to the person that you want to make decisions or your executor; telling them your wishes or instructing them on what needs to be done.  Lists of passwords and account numbers should not be written into a Will. Will's become public information and you do not want to risk making that information public. Keep your passwords in a secure location. Consider a safe deposit box; but make sure that you give access to the person you designate. Planning for your death can be as complicated or as easy as you choose to make it. Take it step by step and make decisions now that will ease the burden on your family later.

You should update your estate plan (Will, Trust, and/or Advanced Health Care Directive) every few years or at every life changing occurrence (birth of a child, death, marriage, divorce, etc.). Make sure that you understand your estate plan and understand what your Will or Trust say. Talk to your loved ones about your wishes and ask what theirs are.