Aside from the obvious issues with accounts that involve real dollars, such as access to bank and credit card accounts, there are other virtual assets as well, such as communications. Only a decade ago when someone died, the executor of the estate, or perhaps the loved ones left behind, could learn a lot about a person by the letters and other documents found in their home. Next of kin and best friends were often notified based upon information found in a written address book perhaps left behind in a desk drawer.

But, in our virtual world of Google Apps (G-mail and Google Contacts,) Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs, people communicate differently. If only a digital footprint remains, how will a friend or spouse access those virtual assets? How will friends be notified? How are cell phones, Skype or Vonage accounts going to be shut down properly? Once you begin contemplating the possible ramifications – the list is surprisingly, or I should say shockingly, long.

Electronic communications of all types constitute the “Virtual Assets,” that you must manage and protect. These accounts are most likely accessed via user identification codes and passwords. A few require more advanced log-ins, called multi-factor authentications, i.e., where you have to provide an answer to some previously agreed upon question such as “Where were you born?” or “What was the name of your first pet?” Whatever the situation, other than yourself – who would know how to access your financial and personal assets in the virtual world of the Internet? The answer is typically either no one, or not the right one.

If I die tonight after writing this article, will my spouse of 40 years be able to log into my Facebook account and notify my “Friends” that I will not be posting to my Wall anymore? What about my professional contacts on LinkedIn and Plaxo? Will anyone know I am gone if I never Twitter again? Will my friends in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) miss me and wonder if I have simply flown away to another island?

I know your first thought may be, how silly can you be. But remember that, after 60 days of no activity, Facebook locks your account and you can only open it with the proper authority, and that does not include even a spouse. If bank statements are maintained electronically, (and many people do not even download their statements anymore rather they read them on-line), there is no record of these transactions to support your estate claims and so forth. It will be a virtual mess far worse than even what we experienced in the past.

So bottom-line, perhaps you should maintain a list of all user ID, passwords and challenge responses to your virtual assets somewhere in the physical world, where they can be accessed in the event of your becoming incapacitated or even your untimely death. (I hate it when my attorney says “my untimely death” – I really was not planning to die at anytime!)

You could provide such documentation to your accountant or lawyer as trustee with specific guidance as to how the information is to be used. When passwords are updated (hopefully at least once or twice a year), insure you update the documentation as well.

If you are an accountant in public practice, establishing yourself as the gatekeeper for your client’s virtual assets could be an amazing product to offer as a service. At the very least, review your own electronic financial accounts, social networking sites, as well as all Internet-based services you log into, and document your access so that someone else is aware and can access these accounts if necessary.