Remember Social Network Accounts When Planning Estate

During our current era social networks have become a very large part of our lives and you may be surprised to hear just how true this is.

Sometimes you hear a statistic that really is kind of hard to believe, and when you examine Facebook usage it is rather incredible. About one out of every four page views that takes place on the Internet is a Facebook page. As recently as 2010 statistics indicated that Facebook visits accounted for one out of every 10 excursions onto the Internet.

If you are one of the many people who has a Facebook account (there are over 155 million Americans on Facebook according to CheckFacebook.com) you may want to leave instructions with regard to how you want your account handled after you pass away. You probably don’t want an unattended Facebook identity lingering on the Internet into perpetuity.

Facebook has this figured out through their practice of memorializing the accounts of deceased Facebook users. If the family member of a deceased individual lets Facebook know about the passing of an account holder Facebook will do a number of things with the account.

For one, no further access to it will be allowed. In addition, status updates and the personal information of the deceased account holder will no longer be available. The deceased individual will no longer come up as a potential friend or appear in searches. But, friends of the memorialized account holder will still be able to post on his or her wall.

There certainly are a number of things to consider when you are planning your estate in the digital age, and social networks accounts are just one of them. To create a comprehensive estate plan in light of today’s routine use of modern technology, simply arrange for a consultation with a good Central New Jersey estate planning lawyer who is up to speed with regard to Internet usage.

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Alan Augulis, Estate Planning Attorney

Mr. Augulis founded his Warren, New Jersey law firm so that he could focus his practice in the areas of advanced estate planning and tax law. Mr. Augulis has invested considerable time and energy helping to educate others on the topic of estate planning and has become a sought-after speaker in the tax and estate planning arena because of his informative and entertaining seminars.

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