Living in the digital age, having online access to investments is a great convenience. But the downside is that they can create a very difficult situation for a surviving spouse or executor trying to find the deceased’s assets. What is the first thing you are told about any password? Don’t write it down. This can create unintended consequences for an executor who needs access to each account in order to marshal the assets and eventually distribute those assets to the heirs or trustees based on the language contained in the will. When the founder and CEO of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX, died unexpectedly, nobody else had the password to the exchange’s cold storage locker. That cut off access to investors’ $190 million in cryptocurrency. Those investors may never see their funds again.…Read More
Our Lives Are On Our Smartphones The data we keep on them has great sentimental value because they’re every parent’s primary way of capturing precious family memories, such as videos of an adorable child singing pop songs in the car. But our smartphones also store other sensitive information that is valuable to hackers, like passwords and financial information. What happens when we don’t have access to our smartphones for an extended period of time? (Or if something happens to us and someone else can’t access something important on our phones?) We feel powerless. We might even freak out. Recently, my iPhone broke. I had dropped the phone too many times and it was on its way out anyway. But I wasn’t ready. I thought I had more time. And worst of all, I…Read More
