How Are Digital Assets Handled in Michigan Probate?
Digital assets like online bank accounts and cryptocurrency are handled like any other property in Michigan probate court. The Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act regulates how your personal representative or executor can access your digital assets. To make sure your digital assets are distributed according to your wishes, rather than left up to the probate court, you must include them in your estate plan.
What Are Digital Assets?
Digital assets are valuable items in digital form, including:
- Cryptocurrency
- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Security tokens
- Email, social media, and cloud storage accounts
- Online bank accounts
- Documents, photos, videos, and other files
What makes a digital asset valuable? Either monetary or intangible value. A digital asset is only valueless if no one values it. Digital assets are handled as property under Michigan law, so you can pass them down to your heirs like any other property.
The Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
Michigan’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act spells out how fiduciaries can access your digital assets after you die, and what regulations they must follow when managing these assets. Fiduciaries who can access your digital assets under Michigan law include:
- Your personal representative, or the executor of your estate
- A conservator appointed by the court to manage your estate
- An agent with a power of attorney to manage your financial affairs
- A trustee responsible for a trust you established
How to Handle Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan
The Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act creates a framework for managing digital assets, but it’s always best to articulate your wishes clearly in your estate plan. Your estate plan should include:
- A list of all your digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, bank accounts, photos, and other files
- The passwords and login info needed to access all your digital assets
- A list of beneficiaries and which digital assets they should receive or control
You can also appoint a digital executor to manage all your digital assets after your death.
What Happens if You Don’t Include Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan?
If you don’t have an estate plan that specifies what you want to do with your digital assets, the probate court will distribute them according to Michigan’s intestate succession law. This may result in assets being passed down to someone you would not have chosen.
If you don’t provide passwords and login information, your heirs may find it difficult or impossible to access your digital assets after you die. If you haven’t specified who should receive your assets, your heirs may be unable to convince banks or cryptocurrency exchanges to give them access. Even if a court gives your executor the legal authority to access your accounts, they will have no way to do so without your passwords and login information. Including your digital assets in your estate plan will solve many problems.
Contact a Bingham Farms Estate Lawyer Immediately
Not everyone knows what digital assets are, but almost everyone owns extensive digital assets these days. Even if you’ve never invested in Bitcoin or NFTs, you probably own an online bank account or store your family photos in the cloud. That’s why including digital assets in your estate plan is so important. You can use your estate plan to ensure your heirs know who receives each of your digital assets and how they can access them.
A trusted estate planning law firm like Bingham Legal Group PC can help you create an estate plan that addresses all your digital assets. If you already have an estate plan, we can help you modify your existing plan as needed. Make sure that your digital assets are addressed properly in your estate plan. Contact Bingham Legal Group PC today for a consultation to discuss your needs.