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Sep 1, 2011 12:00 PM
Estate Administration in Cyberspace
In an era of high-speed technology, an executor's responsibilities can take even longer to fulfill — and new legal issues must be addressed
Until just a few years ago, an estate executor on the hunt for important documents might find them in a filing cabinet at a decedent's home or in a safety deposit box at a bank. But now, with powerful computers and easy access to the Internet, a decedent may have sent and stored those papers solely in digital form. This has raised technological and legal issues that an executor must address in today's online world.
If a decedent warehoused documents on a hard drive or an Internet storage site, did she leave a record of the files' locations, along with any user IDs and passwords needed to access those areas? Could an executor be committing an illegal act if he retrieves someone else's digital files? Unfortunately, most current state laws are either unclear or have little to say about an executor's role in gaining access to a deceased individual's digital property. Likewise, user agreements that often accompany online services like email (and which a user must agree to before obtaining such services) are equally unclear or silent about this access issue.
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Topics of Interest
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| GSTs | Family Offices |
| Private Foundations | Life Insurance |
| 2010 Tax Act News | Industry Trends Surveys |
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