Google Activates New Tool to Address Estate Planning Issues

If you use the Gmail e-mail service, YouTube, Picasa Web Albums, Blogger, or Google+ and you are serious about your estate planning efforts some information that is relevant to you has recently been released.

These are all services that are provided by Google of course, and you have to ask yourself what will happen to your Google account after you pass away.

Google has recently given you some options if you are among the massive numbers of people who do in fact have an account with the company. You can utilize the Google Inactive Account Manager to state your preferences regarding how you want your account dealt with after you die.

Clearly, an inherent difficulty here is the fact that someone who has passed away can’t inform anyone of this event. With the Inactive Account Manager Google will surmise that you have passed away if you’re inactive for a certain amount of time.

You can set this period of time when you utilize the tool. You have the option of setting it for three months, six months, nine months, or a year.

Should your selected period of time elapse without any activity taking place Google will try to contact you one last time. If there is no response your account will either be deleted or the data will be shared with anyone that you selected when you entered your settings.

This is just one of the many different entities that you may deal with online. You would do well to inventory all of your online accounts when you’re planning your estate and make sure that you make provisions for the handling of each one of them after your passing.