Legal Insight from the Times

By on May 22, 2009 in Legal, News

The New York Times ran an article on May 20th with some good legal insight into the issues surrounding death online. We’ve talked about the need for a “digital executor” before, but Patricia H. Char, a lawyer with K&L Gates in Seattle, warns that isn’t enough. Without a durable power of attorney document your executor may be accessing your accounts illegally, and that opens all sorts of issues, especially if other relatives accuse them of misuse.

Read more from the New York Times: When Others Need the Keys to Your Online Kingdom

Also on May 20th, WWAY in Wilmington, NC aired a story called Online After Death.

Be Sociable, Share!

    About Evan Carroll

    Evan Carroll is an experience designer and researcher. His passion is observing how people interact with technology and using that insight to create user-centered products and services—a passion that led him to study the digital afterlife. Evan holds BS and MS degrees in Information Science from UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science. He can be contacted by emailing or via Twitter @evancarroll.  Evan's personal site is www.evancarroll.net.
    View all posts by Evan Carroll →

    , ,

    One Response to Legal Insight from the Times

    1. Jeff February 24, 2011 at 10:48 pm #

      I’m not an attorney, but I have been told by our attorney that a “durable power of attorney” is only a legal document while the person is alive. Once the person passes, the POA is no longer usable. Control of the testator’s estate passes to the executor.

    Leave a Reply