Way back in 2014, I had some folks in my life die, and I had to help deal with their estates. It spawned the Networked Mortality project, which was me reviewing how I’d then structured my own life to make managing my digital estate easier. Ends up, there were other folks thinking about the same thing. I met Megan Yip, and we co-wrote a guide for the elderly about digital assets.

Then I got a Proper Job, and stopped spending time on it. Megan kept going, but was so overwhelmed with demand that she kept going back to focus on her law practice instead. Now that I’ve got some time, I’m helping her flesh out DigitalAssetsHelp (freshly re-launched!). We’re hoping to offer a few things: 1/ consulting services to not blow up lawyer’s fees (now); 2/ continuing legal education to lawyers getting to know this specialization (eventually); 3/ white-label guides for lawyers to use to prepare their clients (soon); and 4/ workshops for death doulas and other death workers to understand this aspect of planning (now).

For me, this is deeply personal. It is a way to take care of each other, a way to fight back against hyperindividualism, a way to stop tech companies from claiming ownership of everything, and yet one more way to prepare for catastrophe. Digital estate planning is radical on many fronts.

However, since it’s been a decade since I’ve been thinking about this deeply, I sure would love to chat with folks about what their digital asset concerns are and where we should focus first. If you’re down to nerd out with me about technology and death, please send a 15 minute invite. We know about things ranging from private messages to photo libraries to NFTs and crypto currencies.