The Reecer Law Firm

Texas Estate Planning & Probate Law

Estate Planning

Understanding The Importance of a Digital Estate Plan

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In the digital age, our lives have become increasingly intertwined with online platforms and digital assets. From social media accounts to online banking and digital photographs, we accumulate a vast amount of digital property throughout our lives. But what happens to these digital assets after we pass away? This is where a digital estate plan comes into play.

What is a Digital Estate Plan?

Digital Estate Plan

A digital estate plan is a set of instructions that outline how you want your digital assets to be managed, preserved, or distributed after your death or incapacity. It encompasses all the online accounts, files, and digital possessions you have accumulated over the years, including email accounts, social media profiles, online photo albums, digital documents, cryptocurrency, and more.

Why is a Digital Estate Plan Important?

  1. Preservation of Digital Legacy: Just as you make arrangements for your physical assets and personal belongings, it’s crucial to consider your digital legacy as well. A digital estate plan ensures that your online presence, memories, and personal information are handled according to your wishes.
  2. Access and Account Management: Without proper planning, your loved ones may encounter difficulties accessing your online accounts after your demise. By including instructions for accessing these accounts in your digital estate plan, you can alleviate the stress and confusion your family might face.
  3. Privacy and Security: A comprehensive digital estate plan takes into account the security and privacy aspects of your digital assets. It enables you to specify what should happen to your sensitive information, such as account passwords or financial records, ensuring that they are appropriately protected or disposed of.

Creating a Digital Estate Plan:

  1. Take Inventory: Begin by identifying all your digital assets, including online accounts, devices, and digital files. Make a list of each item and its location, along with any associated login credentials or access codes.
  2. Appoint a Digital Executor: Choose a trustworthy individual to act as your digital executor or designate this responsibility to your regular executor. This person will be responsible for carrying out your wishes as outlined in your digital estate plan.
  3. Specify Your Wishes: Clearly state what you want to happen with each digital asset. You might want your social media profiles to be memorialized, certain files to be deleted, or digital photographs to be passed on to specific individuals. Provide explicit instructions for each asset.
  4. Store and Share: Ensure that your digital estate plan is accessible to your designated executor. Store it securely, either in a physical location (such as a safe deposit box) or a password-protected digital file. Inform your executor about its location and any necessary access credentials.
  5. Review and Update: Regularly review and update your digital estate plan, particularly when there are changes in your digital assets, passwords, or preferences. Stay informed about any changes in online platforms’ policies regarding the management of digital assets.

A digital estate plan is an essential aspect of modern estate planning. It ensures the smooth management and distribution of your digital assets while protecting your privacy and preserving your digital legacy. The Reecer Law Firm can provide expert guidance in creating a comprehensive digital estate plan that aligns with your overall estate planning goals. Don’t overlook the importance of planning for your digital assets—start the process today and provide peace of mind for yourself and your loved ones.

Contact The Reecer Law Firm PLLC for Assistance

Dena Reecer, founder and owner of the Reecer Law Firm PLLC, is one of a few Texas attorneys who are Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. If you are considering preparing or revising your will, contact us for more information about how we can help you. The Reecer Law Firm is located at 3105 Unicorn Lake Blvd., Denton, Texas 76210.

What Are the Duties of an Executor of an Estate?

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If you are named in a will as the executor of an estate, Texas law imposes upon you certain responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to hire an attorney to guide you through the process. This is because as executor, you represent the interests of both beneficiaries and creditors, and only a licensed attorney can represent the interest of others.

There are exceptions to this rule which your attorney will discuss with you. Briefly, one exception is if you are the sole beneficiary.

Executor

Responsibilities of the Executor of an Estate

Specific responsibilities imposed by Texas law include:

Notifying the beneficiaries of the decedent’s death. If they cannot easily be located, you may need to put a notice of death in newspapers.

Locating and inventorying assets. This includes locating:

  • Personal property such as vehicles, boats, checking accounts, jewelry, antiques, safe deposit box contents, and others.
  • Financial holdings. Retirement accounts, stocks and bonds, investment accounts.
  • Real estate the decedent owned in Texas and any real estate the decedent owned in another state.
  • Businesses owned by decedent or owned in partnership with others.

You must inventory the assets and the value each asset at the time of the decedent’s death. This document must usually be filed with the court.

Paying decedent’s debts and taxes. All creditors must be given notice of the death and the opening of probate. Creditors can file a claim and the executor has a duty to verify it is a legitimate debt. If so the debt must be paid.

Tax returns must be filed, the Social Security Administration notified of the death, and all credit cards must be canceled.

You also have a duty to identify estate property that is exempt from creditors and set it aside for the beneficiaries.

Recognizing priority rights. Spouses and minor children have rights which may include payment of an allowance while the estate is being probated.

Distribution of assets. After all other duties have been fulfilled, you then distribute the assets to the beneficiaries according to the terms of the will.

In fulfilling your duties as an executor, keep in mind at every step of the way, you have a fiduciary duty to preserve assets and to act always in the best interest and with loyalty to the beneficiaries.

Contact The Reecer Law Firm PLLC for Assistance

This is just an overview of the responsibilities of an executor. Depending on the will and the size of the estate, there may be other responsibilities you must fulfill as the executor.

Dena Reecer, founder and owner of The Reecer Law Firm PLLC, is one of just a few Texas attorneys who are Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Contact the firm for more information about your responsibilities as the executor of an estate.

Your Top Priority: Setting Up an Estate Plan

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Many people believe they must have millions of dollars in assets and investments to need an estate plan, but that is not true. Anyone who wants to ensure that their spouse and/or children receives their assets when they pass away should think about establishing an estate plan.

Understanding Texas Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and More

Estate Planning

To begin the estate planning process in Texas, you will need to prepare some important documents that will empower others to carry out your instructions. The following are some of the most common documents a good estate planning or probate law attorney can help you with:

  • A Will. A Will outlines how you wish for your assets to be distributed upon your death and who they will be distributed to. If you have minor children, you can also designate a guardian who will care for them if they do not have a surviving parent after you’ve passed. Upon your death, a Will is generally submitted to the probate court, which will admit your Will to probate and give your Executor the authority to carry out the terms of your Will.
  • A Trust. A Trust is a fiduciary agreement in which you (the Grantor) transfer your assets to the Trust during your lifetime and designate a Trustee (yourself or a third party) to control those assets during your lifetime and to administer the Trust after your death in order to distribute the Trust assets to your family or friends (the Beneficiaries). A Trust allows you to pass assets to your Beneficiaries by avoiding probate, saving costs and time. Further, there are generally tax benefits for your heirs who receive assets through a Trust.
  • Statutory Durable Power of Attorney. A Statutory Durable Power of Attorney (also called a financial power of attorney) authorizes someone to make financial decisions on your behalf during your lifetime if you are unable to make those decisions on your own.
  • Texas Medical Power of Attorney. A Texas Medical Power of Attorney is a statutory form that authorizes someone to make medical decisions on your behalf during your lifetime if you are unable to make those decisions on your own.
  • An Advance Directive or Living Will. An Advance Directive memorializes your intent that you be kept comfortable, free of pain, and hydrated but allowed to pass away naturally if you are in a permanent vegetative state.

What Happens if You Die Without a Plan?

The legal term for dying without a Will or Trust is dying “intestate.” If you die intestate, any assets that do not have a beneficiary designation will pass to your Heirs-at-law, determined according to Texas law. Texas does not allow for oral Wills – your wishes must be written down. If you die intestate, the probate court will need to determine who your Heirs-at-law are and appoint an Administrator to distribute your assets to your Heirs-at-law, pay any debts, and wind up your affairs. If it is important to you to control who benefits from your estate, then having an estate plan in order should be a top priority.

For assistance with estate planning, probate law, and other matters related to Wills and Trusts in the Denton and DFW area, contact our attorneys at The Reecer Law Firm, PLLC. Dena A. Reecer, principal and founder, has been Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2008 and has decades of experience in helping clients carry out their final wishes.