Though many people have online bank accounts, email accounts, social media pages, and important documents that exist only on their computers, few have taken steps to protect these assets in the event of a sudden illness or death. Digital estate planning often depends upon what, if any, digital properties you have, and there are several factors that typically affect this.

Issue 1: Demographic trends. It shouldn’t be a surprise that older adults generally have far fewer online or digital assets than younger adults. It also shouldn’t be a surprise that older adults are much more likely to either begin estate planning or have an estate plan in place. This means that many estate planning attorneys have only minimally dealt with digital estate planning efforts even though this trend will likely reverse itself as online asset issues become more common.

Issue 2: Profession. If you rely on your computer for work or small business, you almost definitely have specific, and important, digital properties that you need secured as part of your estate plan. Some professionals, such as those who work entirely online or who have digital portfolios, are especially vulnerable and should take action as soon as possible.

Issue 3: Tools. But how do you protect your digital assets? Currently there are few specific legal tools that will allow you to pass on your digital legacy. However, you can avail yourself of tools currently available, such as financial powers of attorney and dictating transfers through a last Will and testament.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Question 1: Will I have to pay for my husband’s/wife’s credit card debts after he or she dies?

Answer: Maybe. It all depends on who signed up for the account. If you and your spouse had a joint credit card then you must personally repay the debt even if it was your spouse that used the card. If your spouse had an individual account then you do not have to personally pay. Rather, the card company should file a claim against your spouse’s estate and try to recover the money from it.

Question 2: Can I still use the credit card after my spouse dies?

Answer: Maybe, but your ability to keep using the card depends on who owned the account. If it is a joint account than you can absolutely use the card. If, on the other hand, your spouse was the account holder and you were an “authorized user,” you will not be able to use the account. The account may be closed as soon as your spouse dies or at any time after.

Question 3: What if the credit card company keeps calling me?

Answer: A credit card company may try to convince you that you are responsible for the debt or try to get you to repay it even if you have no legal obligation to do so. Fortunately, you have specific rights against debt collectors under state and federal law. Talk to your attorney if you are receiving phone calls or demands to pay your spouse’s debt.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Question 1: Who appoints the personal representative?

Answer: A personal representative is always appointed by the court, but others may nominate the person. If, for example, you write a Will and select your own personal representative, the court will usually choose that person. If your selection for personal representative is not able or willing to serve, or if you don’t leave a valid Will, your beneficiaries can select someone to serve in this position. If the beneficiaries cannot agree, it falls to the court to select a personal representative.

Question 2: What are the personal representative’s duties?

Answer: The personal representative is charged with settling the estate. This means he or she has to find all the decedent’s property, determine what debts must be paid and give any heirs their portion of the estate. There are numerous specific steps involved in this process as required by law, and those named a personal representative should have an attorney advise them about these often complicated provisions.

Question 3: What is the difference between a personal representative, administrator, and executor?

Answer: All three are the same as far as their duty to administer the estate is concerned. Technically, an executor is a personal representative that is named in a Will while an administrator is a personal representative who was appointed when there is no Will or no named Executor in a Will is able to serve.   The probate court has the responsibility to appoint the personal representative, and whether that person was named in a Will or not doesn’t change his or her duties to settle the estate.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

You’ve probably put it off because you didn’t have the time, or you didn’t think you had enough money, or because you simply don’t like thinking about your own mortality. All of these reasons to not participate in estate planning are understandable, but if you’ve let them delay you from creating a plan, you’re risking more than just your ability to make choices about who receives an inheritance from you. A complete estate plan addresses issues about your future that you can only address by creating specific documents.

Risk 1: Your children won’t be cared for the way you would want. If you and your spouse die simultaneously, who cares for your children? If you don’t have a last will and testament, you don’t get to decide. It will be up to your family and friends to apply to a court to determine who will act as your child’s guardian, and the court may end up choosing someone of whom you’d never approve.

Risk 2: Your family will fight about your medical care. If you get sick, who will step in to make choices about your medical care? What kinds of choices will that person make? Will he or she make the choices you would have wanted? All of these questions can be addressed by you before the necessity arises. But if you don’t act, a court may have to appoint someone to make these choices. This can lead to conflict between your family, especially if they have differing opinions about what you may have wanted.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Myth 1. All I need to do is create a will and I’m done. Wrong. A will is an important estate planning tool, but it is just the beginning. For some people, wills are almost an afterthought as their estate plan allows them to transfer their property without having to use a will. Further, wills only allow you to make specific types of decisions, and they cannot be used, for example, to convey medical decisions if you become incapacitated.

Myth 2. I can use online wills or other documents and not have to pay an attorney. This is partially true. There are a range of online resources you can use to help you develop your own estate plan, but you should not use them as a substitute for personalized legal advice from an experienced attorney. If you choose to use do-it-yourself tools, always have an attorney review them for errors or omissions, or to tell you about other options you may not know about.

Myth 3. I don’t need an estate plan because I’m not married, not a parent, not a senior, not sick, etc., etc.. These reasons people give for why they haven’t started any estate planning effort is not an exhaustive list. Any experienced estate planning attorney will tell you that if you’re 18 years old or older, you need an estate plan. And estate plans aren’t just for the well-to-do or those with a lot of property or real estate. You have estate planning issues that only a good plan can deal with, even if you don’t think so.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

There are two kinds of people who do not need an estate plan: children and those no longer living. If you are a member of neither of these groups, not having an estate plan can end up costing you and your family dearly. The reasons for not setting your affairs in order are numerous, but fear and misperception often plays a big part. If you’re not convinced that you need an estate plan, here are 3 negative effects that could happen because of your failure to act.

Headache 1: Someone else makes your medical decisions for you. Even if you’re in good health, anyone can suddenly become ill or injured. If you lose your mental capacity during this time, someone else will have to make medical choices for you. But who? If you don’t have an estate plan, it will be up to someone whom you may never have wanted in that position.

Headache 2: Your property is inherited by someone other than whom you want. Your state has already chosen who inherits your property if you do not leave a Will. Depending on where you live and who you leave behind, this can range from your spouse receiving everything to your parents getting it all. However, you can bypass these laws and make your own choices, but only if you have an estate plan that complies with the state requirements.

Headache 3: You lose money. Specifically, your estate loses money. How? By having to pay more in estate management fees, probate costs, estate taxes and other costs associated with what can be a lengthy intestacy process.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

As part of your estate plan, you probably want to create a financial power of attorney that will allow someone else to manage your finances when you are sick or incapacitated. Here’s a brief checklist of what you’ll need to do to create this important document, though your attorney will be able to give you a complete list.

• Notebook: Keep track of what you want your power of attorney to accomplish, as well as questions you may have for your attorney.
• Education: Learn what powers of attorney can and cannot do, as well as what options you have in choosing what kind of powers the document will pass.
• Agents: Your agent is the person who will handle your finances. Come up with a list of potential agents and ask if they would be willing to serve. Have more than one in case an alternate needs to be used.
• Document: You have to create a financial power of attorney must be made in writing. Also, the document has to meet specific requirements as detailed in state law. Ask your attorney to prepare the document for you and review it to make sure you understand what it contains and why.
• Execute: You have to sign your power of attorney before it becomes effective. Schedule a time with your attorney to execute the document properly so your agent won’t be left with a useless document later.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

You know you need a will, you know you should have something ready in case you get sick, and you know you should probably start figuring out what kinds of property you might want to place in trust, but you haven’t done it. Don’t feel bad, about 50 percent of people haven’t started any kind of estate planning at all.

But why haven’t you started? Time? Money? Maybe. But there’s also likely an emotional issue that is there as well. We may not like to admit it to ourselves, but thinking about estate planning issues causes many of us to pause, ignore or even hide from the subject. If you feel this way, you’re not alone.

Fear of mortality. Struggling with the inevitable is something that isn’t new to humanity, and your fear has been shared by people since time immemorial. You don’t have to get over your fear to begin estate planning, but if your fear is blocking you from proceeding, you can often find comfort from books, friends, religious advisors or counselors.

Fear of being alone. For married couples and those living with partners, estate planning not only brings up thoughts of your own death, but your partner’s as well. If the person you’ve spent much of your life with dies, you’ll be suddenly confronted with the prospect of being alone. This thought alone is enough to cause many people to balk. Talk to your spouse, partner, friends and family about your concerns, or work with a therapist to help you better deal with these difficult emotions.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Creating an estate plan may seem like a complicated, difficult task, something akin to climbing a mountain or building a house. But that’s only because you’re looking at the project and not its individual pieces. Once you chop up the process into specific stages, you’ll see that a good estate plan is something almost anyone can do without too much difficulty.

Step 1: Survey the area. You start your estate plan by simply sitting down and getting a grasp of not only what you own, but what you want. Some people want to ensure their pets are cared for just as much as their children are, while others have very specific gifts they want to leave their family and friends. Start writing down the general goals you have for where you want your property to go after you die.

Step 2: Make your plans. Explain your wishes to your estate planning attorney. Once reviewing what you have and what you want, your attorney can advise you on the elements you’ll need to create to accomplish your goals.

Step 3: Build it one piece at a time. Each element of your estate plan requires you to take specific, easily manageable steps. Create one at a time, making sure to take the steps your attorney will lay out for you.

Step 4: Repair and maintain. Now that your estate plan is built, it’s time to rest on your laurels, right? Wrong. Though you won’t have to do as much as you did when you started, you’ll have to make periodic changes or updates to keep your plan optimized.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Some families make it a holiday tradition to donate to charity, spend time volunteering or sending care packages to our military service members overseas.

Option 1: Find a service member you know. If you know someone serving in the armed forces, the best way to send a care package is to send it to the person individually. The Department of Defense, for safety and security reasons, doesn’t allow packages or materials sent to generic addresses, only individuals.

Option 2: Send to an organization. Some charitable organizations such as the USO (www.uso.org) and the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) regularly provide services to members of the armed forces. You can visit their websites for more information about how to send packages to troops if you don’t have specific addresses to include.

Option 3: Send a charitable donation. Apart from sending an actual care package, card or letter, you can also donate to charities that provide support to military personnel and their families. Go to www.ourmilitary.mil for more information about the various military community support organizations available.

John R. Vermillion & Associates, LLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.