Digital Legacy - Another Leap Forward
With the extreme advancements in technology, we are all struggling to keep up. Whether its asking your kids about this thing called Facebook or remembering to keep a record of your online banking information, we have reached a stage where we can’t avoid the realities of living in a world where a great deal of our life is conducted in ‘cyber-space’.
The Will Registry, Inc. is a web site that has recently been launched in New York State. The site is a centralized database for storage of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, heath care directives and other vital legal documents. Further, it includes a directory to locate originals. The website also makes it possible for the member to access their information from anywhere in the world. Some of the services are discussed in this blog.
Notably, the website also allows for professional accounts. Allowing lawyers, trust officers, physicians, hospitals and health care providers to create their own accounts to store information relating to their records. Hypothetically, this would allow lawyers to keep a record of the wills they’ve drawn and what was done with the original. The record being preserved, and searchable, with the information being disseminated limited to that allowed by the member.
We’ve all encountered the situation where we believe that a client or the Deceased in an estate battle made a Will, and yet no one can find it, or only a copy can be found. This could lead to a variety of possible court Applications, all costly, lengthy and ultimately with no guarantee of success. The search capabilities included in this site, as well as with the Ontario counterpart (although it is limited to Wills), could assist in general conundrums of this fashion, assuming the member has made that information available.
The extent to which this website is used and whether there are any ethical issues for its use from a professional perspective is yet to be seen. I suppose that only time will tell how such websites impact estate planning, administration and litigation, but its certainly something to think about the next time you’re looking for a will.
Until Tomorrow,
Nadia M. Harasymowycz - Click here for more information on Nadia Harasymowycz.
