Your child’s first steps. A recording of your laughter. Twenty years of family photographs. Some of the most meaningful things you leave behind may be stored on your phone.
Even the most carefully prepared will may leave your executor wondering how to access them.
The same devices that hold these memories also contain the everyday details of your financial life: bank statements in your inbox, investment records on your computer and bills managed through an app. Helping your family access your digital information allows them to preserve what matters personally while finding what they need to settle your affairs.
With so much now paperless, your executor may find few clues in your filing cabinet or incoming mail. Asset searches can help identify missing accounts, but their coverage varies. Clear records can save your family considerable detective work, allowing them more time to support one another and remember you.
This is why keeping an inventory of your important accounts, financial institutions and devices, including where essential documents and treasured memories are stored, is an important part of estate planning. At RMS Estates Law, we help clients consider these practical details alongside their wills and powers of attorney, so their executors know where to turn and their families can preserve what matters most.
Your executor should know where to find this inventory and your access instructions. You might arrange secure access to passwords or device passcodes, or use legacy contact and account planning options from Apple, Facebook or Google. However, these arrangements may provide acsess only to certain information stored in the cloud, rather than everything on a device. A legacy contact cannot necessarily unlock your phone. Apple advises that it cannot remove a device’s passcode lock without erasing its contents. Separate backups of cherished photographs and recordings can help preserve these memories for your family.
Without advance arrangements, families may face additional documentation requirements or court orders, making recovery expensive and time consuming.
As you organize your home and plan your estate, make room for your digital life too. A little preparation can leave your family a clearer path forward and a way to hold on to the memories they cherish.
PLEASE NOTE: The content of this blog is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this material does not create a solicitor-client relationship. This information has been prepared in accordance with the laws currently applicable in Ontario and may not reflect future legal developments.
