Have You Set Up A “Facebook Legacy Contact” to Manage Your Facebook After You Are Gone?

When I die, who gets to access my Facebook? What Florida laws govern this? Can you gain access to your deceased mother’s Facebook account? What if my deceased husband and my shared Facebook account was in his name only and I forgot the password? Will the personal representative of my Florida estate be able to access my social media accounts? When I die, does Florida probate law protect my social media accounts?

Last year, Senate Bill 494 was enacted to protect digital assets. What are digital assets? According to Senate Bill 494, digital assets are “an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest.”  Digital assets include your online accounts, such as email, social media and online banking. Digital assets also include any online rewards, websites, and files that you have stored in the cloud. This legislation was created to allow digital assets and property to be treated like any other estate property throughout the probate process in Florida. It gives people the opportunity to choose who they would like to have access to their accounts when they die. Read Senate Bill 494 by clicking here.

Since this legislation was enacted, Facebook itself has created a super easy way to designate someone to take over your account if something were to happen to you. According to a January 18,2017 New York Times article, you can now choose a “Facebook Legacy Contact.” This person can access most parts of your Facebook account yet cannot read private messages. Another alternative Facebook now provides is to set your account to delete everything once Facebook learns of your death. To read the entire article, click here.