CBA Record October 2018

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

DIGITAL ESTATE PLANNING IN AN ADVANCING TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD The Development of Digital Wealth By Sofia Vatougios

W hile the virtues of traditional estate planning have been extolled time and time again, the sophistication of technology and our digital lives necessitates a new form of estate planning. On average, every inter- net user has twenty-six different online accounts and roughly $37,000 in digital

Digital Assets and Their Value Conventional estate planning is typi- cally focused on the transfer of property, wealth, and assets from one generation to the next. However, as assets and personal property continue to become increasingly digitalized, the conventions of estate plan- ning must be reassessed and restructured.

assets across various devices or platforms. From cryptocurrency to social media accounts, society is now forced to consider the long-term implications of the digital persona. If left uncared for, family might not be able to access important online financial accounts and property.

48 OCTOBER 2018