In a recent "TED talk," Adam Ostrow, a journalist and editor in chief of Mashable, an online news site dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology, discusses a fascinating topic that relates to the "Virtual Assets" issues that we’ve previously written about on WealthLawBlog.com.
In his short lecture, Mr. Ostrow states that "today we’re all creating this incredibly rich digital archive that’s going to live in the cloud indefinitely, years after we’re gone. And I think that’s going to create some incredibly intriguing opportunities for technologists.” He then discusses how technology is forever changing the manner in which our virtual existence continues after we die.
As technology continues to change the manner in which we humans interact with our many forms of “virtual assets,” the law will continue to develop in potentially unpredictable ways. In the context of our estate planning, I believe the key component for effective planning will be careful organization of our virtual assets and arranging for that information to be placed in the right hands when we’re gone.
