Florida Estate Planning: Paperless Records Leave Heirs in the Dark
One problem I have seen in Florida probate cases, and Florida Estate Planning was recently written about by a Massachusetts Estate Planning Lawyer, Leanna Hamill who Practices in Estate Planning and Elder Law. This article was also covered by the Elder Law Professors Blog
In her review of the Walls Street Journal article, Paperless World Can Leave Heirs in the Dark, she states that the article outlines the dangers of keeping your records on your computer.
One of the main problems is that you may not have paper copies, for your Personal Representative to review. Without this information it may be difficult or impossible to compete an accurate inventory during the probate or administration of the decedents estate.
I have previously touched on this in a several articles about Florida Estate Planning and Digital Assets. Those articles cover some of the actual problems and ways in which various online services deal with death, and some of the problems that can result including who has a right if any to access the decedent's information which is stored online.
If you use a computer, you need to consider having a Florida Estate Plan that deals with Digital Assets, paperless transactions, and details your assets for those who have to administrate your estate.
