Unless you are a Facebook power user, you may not think about Facebook very often, but chances are, you look at it a few times a day. In fact, if you actually tracked your usage, you may find that you use Facebook much more often than you would care to admit to anyone in Baltimore, Maryland. However, did you remember to include it in your estate plan? If not, do you know what happens to it after you pass?
What happens to my Facebook when I die?
Currently, the default for your Facebook setting is to last forever. This means that after you pass, it will live on for as long as Facebook exists. Once, the company receives a notification of your death, your page will transition into a memorial page. Right now, nothing changes, except that “Remembering” appears before your name, but this could change in the future.
Why does it matter?
In fact, since Facebook can change their terms of service, settings or even stop operations at any time, anything could happen with your data now, in the future or after you pass. This is why it is so important to think about what you want to happen with your information now.
Do you want Facebook to have your information and photographs forever? Do you want them to be accessible to your friends, family and the world? How do you want to be remembered? These are all questions you can answer in your estate plan, and ones that your Facebook can help you answer. After all, Facebook can be a free way to create a memorial page, though, since it is not designed as such, you are subject to the whims of the corporation, which means you may want to have backups built into your will too.
What if I want it to die when I die?
If you want your Facebook to die when you die, you will need to do something now. You can make the selection in your Facebook setting to have your Facebook permanently delete itself when it receives notification of your death. However, you can also put this instruction into your estate plan as well. However, you will need to include access instructions and a power of attorney to ensure your designee has the power.
Facebook allows you to select a Baltimore, Maryland, legacy contact who can take over your account after your death too. It is a clever idea to do this in addition to the traditional estate planning tools to make it easier for the person to effectuate your wishes, whether that is to delete it or run it as a memorial.