Crypto accounts aren’t like traditional investment accounts. They can be more vulnerable to security issues after your death, and you generally can’t name a beneficiary. And so, it’s essential to understand how to safely store your crypto and communicate your wishes with your loved ones, just like any other valuable asset.
If you’re just starting with cryptocurrency, it can be difficult to imagine your crypto wealth management as something worth discussing with an estate attorney. Continue reading to know how to manage your crypto asset when you are alive so that your successors do not face any problems after your death.
What is asset management in crypto?
A crypto asset is nothing but a cryptocurrency or a tokenized asset, which is the transfer of the value of an object to a blockchain. One can fractionalize the tokens for broader distribution of ownership, just like splitting up ownership of an asset into shares, but these are all digital shares.
Crypto asset management is the process of tracking, purchasing, and selling tokenized assets via a blockchain to ensure the best portfolio performance possible. Asset management signifies monitoring, buying, and selling investments for optimizing portfolio diversification, balancing out risk, and (or) increasing the return a portfolio generates.
Crypto management generally means applying the same exercise to digital assets that depend on blockchain technology. You can think of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Defi coins, NFTs, and many more.
What is the simple checklist to complete when using digital assets?
The simple checklist to complete when you use digital assets is as follows:
- You need to research and distinguish DAM software.
- You need to audit assets.
- You need to clean up your asset library and update file names.
- You need to build your taxonomy.
- You need to move your content over.
- You need to set up integrations to substantiate your workflows.
- You need to add users through permissions.
- You need to teach your teams to use the DAM.
- You need to keep your content composed as you compile more assets.
- You must review your DAM setup and ensure it is still optimized for your teams.
What are considered digital assets in a will?
Digital assets is an extensive term comprising a range of electronic records, from social media accounts to digital photos, email, to online financial accounts. These come in various file types, including MP3, WAV, AU, AIFF, PCM, and BWF. Images are the most common existing form of digital asset.
The three most common format types include JPG, JPEG, and PNG. You can authorize some digital assets via your written will, but most digital assets get transferred in other ways or not at all.
What is a digital estate plan?
A digital estate plan is managing your online details to ensure that your near and dear ones can access your accounts and follow your desires when you die. One can add it to their existing estate planning documents or create it as an individual and separate document.
A conventional estate plan does not signify what happens to your online presence or digital assets when you die. You do not need to give it an opportunity. Instead, you should create a digital estate to allow your loved ones access to information for your online accounts and assets and instructions on your wishes.
Death is, of course, a certainty, and thinking about it might not be pleasant. But, according to a 2021 Gallup poll, almost 50% of American adults do not have a will.
If you create an estate plan, it will not only help you to fulfill all your wishes, but also you can make the life of your loved ones easy when you will create your last. It would be best if you had traditional estate planning documents like a will or trust. You can manage your life in the developing period. It is essential to plan for what will happen to your digital accounts. They will not go through your will-like assets as you do not have most digital accounts.
What are personal digital assets?
Your digital estate includes all the virtual and electronic accounts and assets. Your social media profiles, online bank account, emails on your laptop, and photos saved on your phone can be mentioned as examples. Personal digital assets are entirely different from conventional estate plans which generally include the following things:
Will
A will generally signify the person who obtains your financial and physical assets and valuables like stock shares, homes, and heirloom jewelry. One can also include any wish for charitable donations and name guardians for your children in a will. If something like “my father died am I entitled to anything” has happened to you, or you are thinking about “am I entitled to a copy of my parent’s will,” all the beneficiaries named in the will are allowed to get a copy of the particular will.
Living trust
A living trust helps to build up trust for your assets and enables your near and dear ones to circumvent the time-consuming probate process when you pass away. If you wonder, ” can a trust company be an executor,” you must know that your reliable friends and family members can execute your will. But you should hire a trusted professional capable enough to handle complex estate matters.
Before making a will, you must decide how to choose a successor trustee. As a grantor, you should know that you will get some options for choosing a trustee. You may choose one person as your successor trustee or may choose to have multiple successor trustees. If you choose a person as a successor trustee, it will help you to avoid any conflicts.
However, several trust makers are reluctant to put the entire responsibility for trust administration on just one person. Because of this, a grantor may appoint two or more trusted adults to serve as successor co-trustees, which benefits the trustees and the grantor.
A Living Will
A living will demonstrate your desires for medical decisions, like whether you want to be taken off life support or donate organs.
Healthcare power of attorney
A healthcare power of attorney employs someone so that you can get help with your medical decisions in case you cannot make your medical decisions by yourself. You can combine it with a living will as an advance directive or medical directive, and it is capable of providing more information, like burial preferences.
Financial power of attorney
A financial power of attorney employs someone to manage financial decisions if you need to be more capable of making your financial decisions by yourself.
What To Do When Your Parent Dies With A Living Trust?
People often get confused thinking about what to do with their parents will after death. You must take steps as soon as your parents die with a living trust. The steps you need to follow are as follows:
Step 1: You must get death certificate copies as early as possible.
Step 2: You need to inventory the assets in the estate.
Step 3: You must work with a trust lawyer to understand the will maker’s distribution wishes, timelines, and fiduciary responsibilities.
Step 4: Then, you need to make an asset estimation.>
Conclusion
Now you know how to manage crypto assets in life and after death. If something like “my father died and left a will now what” has happened to you, now you know what to do about it. However, it should be noted that crypto asset management companies do not guarantee any fixed returns. That is why it is crucial to choose a proper asset management firm and do extensive research yourself if you plan to invest your hard-earned money in these things. Consulting with a professional can be a good idea if things seem more challenging than it sounds.
