Planning for the final digital divide

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ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote a phrase that has often been repeated ever since. Mo
[See the full post at: Planning for the final digital divide]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

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ibe98765, schmootoo, Steve S., Norio, fisher75, LHiggins, Michael432, WSkiwiandrewo, SueW, krism, lmacri, Deo, oldfry, SupremeLaW, bshar489, DLivesInTexas

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I just want to thank you for this article. It will be invaluable to me as I update my “if you’re reading this I must be dead” folder. That folder is woefully behind the times and while I have copies of some things on flash drive, it’s nowhere near updated in these digital times and this article will help me immensely as I bring it up to date. Thanks again.

Bergette

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SupremeLaW

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Trusts are a complex legal topic, due in part to the sheer number of different trust “types”.

One important point to remember is that trusts have a legal status that is similar to corporations:  a corporation chartered in one of the States is technically “foreign” with respect to all other 49 States and with respect to the District of Columbia.

The power to create corporations was reserved to the States by the Tenth Amendment.

A similar distinction is true of trusts:  a trust “domiciled” in one of the States is a “foreign trust” with respect to the other 49 States and with respect to the District of Columbia.

A fast way to determine where a trust is domiciled is to read the Clause that identifies which laws and which courts will have jurisdiction to adjudicate lawsuits brought for or against a trust.  See the trust charter to make that determination.

Congress made that determination much more difficult by amending the Internal Revenue Code with a definition of “trusts” that is now much more vague.

Here’s how Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, defined “foreign” and “domestic” corporations:

Foreign corporation. A corporation doing business in one state though chartered or incorporated in another state is a foreign corporation as to the first state, and, as such, is required to consent to certain conditions and restrictions in order to do business in such first state.

Domestic corporation. When a corporation is organized and chartered in a particular state, it is considered a domestic corporation of that state.

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schmootoo, oldfry

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Hey Yall,

Both my wife & I have RoboForm Everywhere accounts to store all of our passwords.
We have each designated the other as our emergency recovery person which gives us access to the others passwords should one of us pass. Of course we also have the passwords to each other’s computers and RoboForm accounts JIC!

We recently had our Wills and Durable Power of Attorney (which of course terminates at death) documents updated and were surprised to find this clause:

D. Exercise Authority Over the Content of Electronic Communications. My Agent may exercise authority over any digital asset of mine, including:

1. Any power appropriate to access, manage, control, value, transfer or delete any digital asset of mine and to employ any consultant or agent to assist in accessing, decrypting or handling any such digital asset.

2. To obtain access, modify, delete, or control my passwords and any other electronic credentials associated with my digital devices and digital assets of mine.

3. The power to exercise authority over the content of any electronic communication sent or received by me and to request disclosure of the content of any such electronic communication, any catalogue of any such electronic communication and any other
digital asset of mine.

For purposes of this Paragraph D, the reference to “any digital asset of mine” means an electronic record in which I have a right or interest.

Looks like they are catching up with the technology.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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wavy, schmootoo, oldfry, SupremeLaW

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A lot depends on the nature and content of such electronic records.

To illustrate, there is no statute of limitations for murder;  consequently, if a criminal investigator has retired but still maintains custody of relevant evidence, the obligations imposed by 18 U.S.C. 4 imply that future custody of such evidence be transferred to one or more of such officers of the United States (civil or military).

e.g. digital surveillance photos of murder weapons + analyses of same

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Our small condo community is managed by a “Board”, made up of volunteer residents.  We use a generic Google email account as the primary source of record keeping.  All email correspondence includes this address and it’s also used as the “owner” of a Dropbox account that gets shared with the Board members.  Hopefully, it will be an easy ‘hand off’ when new members take over at some point!

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SupremeLaW

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I’d certianly recommend you download all content to a portable SSD or HDD and store it in a safe deposit box. Never Ever trust online resources for vital records! IMHO

I just setup a similar download device for the Residents’ Association of or CCRC.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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SupremeLaW

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Do you have any experience with M-DISCs?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

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This ASUS external blu-ray writer looks promising, particularly for PCs that have available USB ports:

https://www.newegg.com/asus-model-bw-16d1x-u-blu-ray-dvd-burner/p/N82E16827135378?Description=asus%20external%20blu-ray%20writer&cm_re=asus_external%20blu-ray%20writer-_-27-135-378-_-Product

 

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SL,

I actually have a USB M-Disc device and a package of M-Discs I purchased for backing up my wife’s genealogy records. However, I never got her to use it. One of these days I’ll probably have to do it for her. I’ll report back when I do.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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SupremeLaW

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At YouTube, Christopher Barnatt aka Explaining Computers did a “torture test” comparing M-Discs with standard blu-ray optical discs.

He froze both, then thawed them out and, if my memory is correct, he even ran both under tap water.

Christopher is a quiet genius with computers:  I JUST LUV HIS STUFF!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pekgrP-v5O0&t=16s

M-Disc is a more robust form of writable DVD and Blu-Ray media for making longer-lasting archives and backups.

Here I look at M-Disc hardware, test compatibility, and perform an intensive data retention test to see if M-Discs really do last longer than traditional optical media.

https://www.youtube.com/@ExplainingComputers/about

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There’s an urban legend that Christopher actually produced that video in the year 3023, and he sent it backwards in time, using his patented time machine.

“M” is for Millennium.

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Quantum computers. I think the next 10 years will be very interesting!

- Thinkpad P15s Gen1 20T4-002KUS, i7-10510U, UEFI/GPT, 16GB, Sammy 500GB M.2.
others...
- Mint Cinnamon 21 current, Win 10 22H2. WuMgr. HP laserjets M254dw & P1606dn, Epson 2480 scanner.

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SupremeLaW

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Susan Bradley wrote:

ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote a phrase that has often been repeated ever since. Mo
[See the full post at: Planning for the final digital divide]

Great article. I’d done this estate planning recently, and realised as a private individual that I needed all the things you mention.

A password manager is almost certainly necessary, and adds value by allowing other data to be stored.

For me, the biggest challenge was how the trusteed executor was going to bootstrap their access.

After my untimely demise, they are confronted with a darkened environment where all devices are off, and protected by their own security. The password manager allows them to use their own device to get access to passwords, and then start logging onto the physical devices that need it.

Things like phone unlock patterns can be stored as notes in the password manager, as can other data such as financial access numbers and other ID data. I also add passwords for devices that do not use the password manager – such as the Router or an old-school seccurity device.

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And there are always sites like Dead Man’s Switch which will send notification if you don’t access them for a specified time, allowing you to pass on digital assets in the worst case scenario.

cheers, Paul

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You should expand on this article and turn it into an e-book to make a few extra pennies!

In 2018, doing genealogical research, I discovered that one of my uncles back in NJ had suddenly died 7 years before in 2011.  He had numerous ailments and had been sick for some years.  He was also long divorced and didn’t have any children.

The coroner kept him on ice for a whole year, while they ran ads in the local paper looking for relatives.  Eventually, they buried him in the “potters field” cemetery.

His last landlord had cleaned out his apartment and luckily had kept the box of papers and effects in a corner of his basement.  That box revealed that he had close to $80k in a savings account that got turned over to the state after 3 years of inactivity plus ownership of two cars.  Luckily, no real estate was involved.

As he died intestate (without a will), as one of his nearest relatives, I volunteered to take on the task of doing his probate in NJ from CA and closing the estate.

This was quite the learning experience!  I had to get the official death certificate, file papers with the surrogate court, clear up his taxes (he didn’t owe any.  In fact the IRS owed him $1700 in refunds, which they refused to pay to the estate under the premise that he didn’t file his returns within the 3 year required time frame, a difficult task for a dead person!).  I needed various forms notarized, had to locate a car that was towed and sold by the local police while he was in the hospital a couple of months or so before he passed, sell his other car, get info from his bank, retrieve the money from the state, etc. etc. etc. and eventually split the money with 5 ways between his existing 4 nieces and myself (with an admin fee for myself).  It took a couple of years to get everything figured out, with many phone calls and letters to finally get all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.

Being an executor of an estate is not something that I would willingly do again!

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wavy, oldfry, SueW

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