If your estate plan doesn’t reference your Loyalty Points & Digital Assets (i.e. Facebook/Instagram account) it may be time to update your will. Here are a few helpful suggestions from our RBC Private Banking Partners & RBC Dominion Securities Will & Estate Consultant.
Loyalty Points
Many of us have accumulated a wonderful balance of RBC Reward points on our visas (or other loyalty cards) that you redeem as you book flights, hotels, car rentals etc. What happens to these points when you pass away? It would be unfortunate if your beneficiaries miss out on the opportunity to use and enjoy these benefits, which often happens when an executor is not aware of their existence and/or when your will does not reference this asset.
If the visa is joint, these points generally roll to the survivor. If the visa/reward program is in your sole name, your executor would be responsible for providing direction to the bank to redeem or transfer points as allowed by Bank policy.
You may wish to speak with your lawyer and consider updating your will, or adding a codicil, that authorizes your executor to direct the bank to redeem your loyalty points as allowed by bank policy.
Passwords and Digital Assets
You may also wish to consider any digital assets you own such as online currency, photos, videos, music files, email accounts, domain names, social media profiles, writings, blogs, digital personas, avatars and balances in online accounts. This is an emerging and quickly changing area, and is something that you may want to discuss with your lawyer.
You may wish to include provisions in your Will that authorize your executor to access, control, modify and transfer your digital assets in accordance with your intentions. Whether this will be possible of course will be subject to the particular rules of the service provider, privacy laws, etc. Until this is clearer, you may wish to take other precautions. Although we are cautioned not to write down or share our passwords, you may choose to list your passwords and keep them in a secure place, either with your Will or with your other important documents, so that your executor will have them and be able to access your online accounts. You will of course need to remember to update your passwords as you change them.
Please click on the following resources that highlight the importance of considering digital assets in an estate plan:
What do all of: Facebook, Linked-In, I-Tunes, Bitcoins, have in common?
Digital Estate Planning – Part 1: Digital Assets: to Preserve or Destroy
Don’t forget about digital assets in your estate plan
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