Business Need a Will
Digital Asset Protection and Succession Planning should be high on the list of priorities for business owners. If something happens to the owner, very often businesses cannot continue on successfully because there is no plan. This specifically refers to the digital files that entrepreneurs go to great lengths to keep private. In many small companies, the owner is the only one with access to important login information that is necessary to keep the business running. Without a plan to pass on those digital files and passwords, sorting through an entrepreneur’s online estate after he or she is gone can be time consuming and frustrating for loved ones.

If the owner already has a will, that attorney can draft an addendum that spells out who should receive the keys to the various digital accounts. However, a will is not the place for usernames and passwords since it will become a public document. A better way would be to store the information on a USB flash drive that is kept it in a safety deposit box or a safe in the owner’s home. Along with that, it is important to include instructions so the successor knows how the data is organized, including email and where sensitive company information is stored. Most importantly, keep this master information updated and make sure a trusted person knows where to find it if the need arises.

Here are 5 Basic Steps to Digital Succession Planning

Step 1. Inventory Digital Assets. Track down and identify a list all of the digital assets. In the digital world, it is also helpful to a successor to create an inventory that includes hardware, software, file structures for accessing key data, online accounts and work information.

Step 2. Identify Appropriate Help. How is that trusted person selected? Perhaps the IT person in the business could assist the surviving spouse and then make it clear that he or she should be engaged to help.

Step 3. Provide for Access. While all warnings caution against writing down passwords and PIN numbers, the simple fact is, if those passwords and PIN numbers key to the business aren’t written down and kept in a safe place where the appropriate person can find them, the business will basically be frozen. This can cause delay, frustration and inconvenience.

Step 4. Provide Instructions. There are a number of areas where survivors would appreciate instructions:
Notifications. Many have Facebook “friends,” LinkedIn “connections,” Twitter “followers” and others communicated with on a regular basis or a blog or Web site with readers that visit sites on a regular basis. These items should be included in the plan along with the owner’s plan for the blogs and sites after his or her passing. There may even be opportunities for the content of popular blogs, photography or online video sites to be recognized as income from licensing, the creation of a book or monetizing content.

Step 5. Give Appropriate Authority. For some, it makes sense to designate specific knowledgeable people as authorities who can properly manage digital assets and to designate them as co-attorneys-in-fact, co-executors or co-trustees, where one is specifically tasked with taking the responsibility for digital assets and affairs. Finding estate planning lawyers who are experienced and knowledgeable in “digital estates” is also essential in certain cases.

Online services are available that offer what is essentially a “digital safety deposit box”. These web-based services generally allow safe storage of key digital files and data and assign beneficiaries for all or specific accounts in the event of the owner’s passing. The service requires someone responsible for confirming the owner’s death to be named.

Responza’s experts can help businesses establish the IT elements that support the protection of their digital assets for all phases of business needs including day-to-day operations, growth and expansion strategies and succession plans. Call Responza’s experts at 206-762-5100.