The death of Prince three years ago at age 57 added him to the long list of celebrities who never had wills created and left their heirs monumental estate disasters. In this case, the death of Prince Rogers Nelson stands for a few other lessons – the nation’s opioid crisis, the challenges of achieving a successful … Continue reading “Three Years Later, the Fees are Adding Up for Prince Estate”
Directive Communication System’s Lee Poskanzer was pleased to be a special guest speaker at the annual Successor Trustee Seminar presented by the Strauss Attorneys law firm in its Hendersonville, North Carolina office. The firm has embraced the importance of digital estate planning, offering their clients the DCS platforms to ensure that their digital property is … Continue reading “Founder Lee Poskanzer at Strauss Attorney’s Successor Trustee Seminar”
We applaud NBC News’ addressing the issue of digital afterlife, but the advice was incorrect, and could cause people to lose so much of their loved one’s digital lives, including some that are irreplaceable. 1) If the digital account’s system figures out that someone who is not the account holder is trying to log in, … Continue reading “Digital Afterlife Needs a Digital Directives, Not Shared Passwords”
Kudos to The Wall Street Journal’s Abigail Summerville, who really gets the problem of digital afterlife. She nails it, in fact: “Social-media giants, with hundreds of millions of accounts, are increasingly grappling with how to handle digital legacies of users who have died.” A few points we want you to consider: 1 – Social-media giants … Continue reading “Kudos to The Wall Street Journal on Digital Afterlife”
Here’s another reason why it’s important to control and manage digital assets during life and after death. A supervisor at Vanguard Group was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing $2.1 million from the accounts of dead or inactive customers through the use of passwords that he stole from his own staff. Vanguard is … Continue reading “Passwords are a Thief’s Best Friend: $2.1 Million Stolen from Dead Customers and Dormant Accounts”
The SECURE Act is one of the bigger legislative changes in retirement planning in recent years. One of the biggest changes it brings is how assets in IRAs are distributed when the owner dies. In the past, people used the stretch option of the IRA to allow heirs to stretch out distributions over their lifetimes. The … Continue reading “2020 The SECURE Act – An Opportunity to Review Estate Plans, Including Digital Assets”
First and foremost, I hope you, your families and friends are doing well during these difficult times. COVID-19 has affected us all. We’re doing thing differently. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen how people have been forced to change their lifestyles. They’re doing almost everything in new ways and relying more on technology to … Continue reading “A Special Message from Lee Poskanzer, CEO”
On April 21, Lee Poskanzer, founder of Directive Communication Systems and attorney Jennifer Zegel, a member of Kleinbard’s Business and Finance Department and Practice Leader of the firm’s Trusts and Estates Group, will present a program on digital assets hosted by the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. Topics they will … Continue reading “Lee Poskanzer Speaking on Digital Assets with Attorney Jennifer Zegal, Hosted by American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section”
