44 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 2019
JOURNEY TO LIFE EVER AFTER
DIGITAL LEGACIES
THE ONLINE GRAVEYARD
Whatever you post on the internet
stays there forever, so they say, which
is why people are increasingly not
only planning funerals and inheritances,
but also their posthumous
digital legacies.
A person’s online presence after they
pass on is often most visible in two
arenas: the continuation of their social
media accounts, and the creation
of web pages that act as an interactive
obituary where loved ones can post
comments.
“In recent years, the ways people
choose to remember deceased family
members and friends has changed,”
said Ruth Sheridan, director of
supportive care at St. Christopher’s
Hospice in London. “Trips to the
cemetery are replaced by online
memorials and social media sites
which can be updated regularly and
accessed freely.”
With the number of Americans
older than 65 projected to outnumber
children in 15 years
for the first time in the nation’s
history and Facebook users of
that vintage among the website’s
fastest-growing age groups, the
issue is sure to gain steam.
Underscoring the phenomenon,
a recent study found that in
50 years, the number of dead
Facebook users will outnumber
accounts held by the living — assuming
the social media website
is still around in a half century.
How to handle people’s online presence
after they die must be considered in the
internet age. (Getty Images)
The study, Are the Tead Taking Over
Facebook? A Big Data Approach to
the Future of Death Online, raised
important questions about how a
dead person’s sensitive private information
should be handled — and who
should have access — after the person
can no longer control the account.
“An exclusively commercial approach
to data preservation poses
important ethical and political risks
that demand urgent consideration,”
researchers Carl J Öhman and David
Watson wrote. “We call for a scalable,
sustainable, and dignified curation
model that incorporates the interests
of multiple stakeholders.”
As for parts of the web intended
for the dead, some social
media pages are specifically
set up to memorialize lost loved
ones. While legacy.com has
grown into a Facebook-sized
obituary website, acquiring
competitors while allowing
more and more well-wishers
to share memories alongside
death notices and photos of
those who’ve passed.
Of course, the idea that everything
stays on the internet
forever is a myth. It’s often a
graveyard of dead links. But it’s
nonetheless important to ensure
loved ones can access your social
media accounts after you die so the
records can be properly preserved
or destroyed, whichever is the final
wish.
-TB
Updating Your Special Needs Plan
Most parents of children with special needs likely
already planned for the child’s financial needs and
continuing care. You have most likely already met with
an elder care attorney and established an appropriate
plan. However, circumstances can change and as the
child ages, it is important to stay in close contact with
special needs planning attorney. There are several life
events that should prompt an immediate call to your
attorney.
When a child with special needs reaches the age
of 18, his/her parents will no longer be able to make
many of the decisions that they were able to make
during his/her childhood. Just like any other adult,
there are several essential documents that should be
in place to protect the child including a health care
proxy and a durable power of attorney to the extent the
individual with special needs has the requisite capacity.
If the individual is deemed to lack capacity, the parents
may choose to pursue an adult guardianship. The timing
of these processes is extremely important and should
be discussed well in advance of the child reaching age
18. An attorney can also help in determining whether
a first-party supplemental needs trust (“SNT”) or thirdparty
supplemental needs trust is the right tool for the
child, to protect his/her assets while maintaining his/her
government benefits. (e.g. SSI and Medicaid).
A first-party SNT is funded by the person with special
needs. The individual may have acquired assets through
a personal injury award, retirement plan, divorce
settlement, life insurance policy or inheritance. Owning
these assets could affect his/her eligibility for meanstested
government benefits. Instead of owning these assets
directly, the person with special needs can put the assets
into a first-party SNT. This must be completed before the
individual reaches the age of 65.
A third-party SNT is the most common type of trust
created for the benefit a person with special needs. Family
members create and fund a trust for their loved one, either
through their wills or through lifetime trusts. The Trustee
of the trust uses trust funds to support the person with
special needs. The beneficiary of the trust never owns
any of the assets nor does he/she have direct access to
trust funds.
Another change in circumstance which may require a
change to the plan is when and if the person with special
seeds moves to another state. Federal benefit programs
such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are governed
by federal rules; however, there may be additional
regulations that apply at the state level. It is important
to speak with an attorney who is familiar with local
rules and programs.
In addition, if the onset of the individual’s disability
occurred while he/she was still young, he/she may
qualify for benefits based on the parent’s work record.
If a parent retires, becomes disabled, or dies, the child
may qualify for benefits based on his/her parent’s work
record, and this would require assistance from the
special needs planner.
As the person with special needs ages, in many cases
his/her health may continue to deteriorate and he/she
may require additional planning. Furthermore, if and
when the beneficiary of a special needs plan dies, there
will be important administrative responsibilities that must
be managed. These can include the potential payoff of
government liens and the disposition of trust assets or
the amendment of a special needs plan.
Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the principal of Ronald
Fatoullah & Associates, a law firm that concentrates in elder
law, estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships,
estate administration, trusts, wills, and real estate. The
law firm can be reached at 516-466-4422, 718-261-1700
or toll free at 1-877-ELDER-LAW or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr.
Fatoullah is also a partner advisor with Advice Period, a
wealth management firm, and he can be reached at 424-
256-7273.
By Ronald Fatoullah, Esq.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
/legacy.com
