Gyroscopic Investing

These could include online financial accounts such as PayPal balances, bank accounts and brokerage accounts accessed only through the Internet…Web sites or blogs that we own and operate…our digital photo albums, e-mail accounts and social media accounts…collections of ebooks…and downloaded digital music and movies.

These digital assets could have significant value for our heirs—sentimental value in the case of digital photos, for instance, or financial value in the case of a PayPal account or a money-generating Web site.

But when we die, such virtual possessions might be overlooked by heirs who don’t know they exist…be inaccessible to heirs who don’t have the passwords…or be the subject of disputes among heirs and possibly even curious or litigious outsiders.

Don’t expect existing laws to provide a great deal of help in sorting out digital estate issues for your heirs. Most states do not yet have laws on this topic, leaving heirs at the mercy of the policies of online service providers.