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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Delaware Bill Seeks to Resolve Issue of Access to Digital Assets after Death

Delaware Public Media reports that the Delaware General Assembly is considering a new bill that would give estate executors access to the deceased's digital accounts. The bill, introduced by Rep. Darryl Scott (D-Dover), would require Internet companies to surrender control of a user's accounts to persons named in the user's will. The companies would have 30 days to grant access after receiving an executor's request, or they would face civil penalties.
The bill would prevent digital assets from being lost by Internet providers deactivating accounts after a user's death and against the user's wishes.

In response to privacy concerns, Rep. Scott emphasized that the proposed bill has built in safeguards. "People can designate assets that they don’t want to be included as part of their estate,” Scott said. So if you don't want people to read your email after you die, you can exclude the account from your estate.

If approved, the Delaware bill will be the first comprehensive law of its kind. Seven other states grant different levels of access.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Crowdfunders Pass on Estate-Planning Game

In April the ABA Journal reported on a lawyer seeking crowdfunding for an estate-planning game. The lawyer behind the game is Stephanie Kimbro, an estate-planning practitioner and pioneer in law practice technology. The game is Estate Quest, a mystery/time-travel adventure where players take on the role of a detective who investigates the cases of people who died without estate plans. By traveling into the decedents' past, players uncover clues about what should have been included in the missing estate plans.


Kimbro sought crowdfunding throught Rockethub.com. According to her blog, Virtual Law Practice, Kimbro went the crowdfunding route because she wanted to "make this a game that’s free for the public to play and learn about some basic estate planning concepts. I’m also doing this to learn about how the crowdfund process might be used for other legal services related projects."

What Kimbro may have learned about crowdfunding is that the crowd isn't interested in educational legal games. The funding period for Estate Quest ended on May 1, and the project received $2,110, well short of the $20,000 that Kimbro requested.