Here's an issue too many advisors have yet to consider: What if a client's important information is all online and password protected? What happens if they die unexpectedly?
It's an issue of critical importance, and one that will be thoroughly vetted at the 2013 T3 Conference (Technology Tools for Today) in Miami beginning on Monday and running through Wednesday.
"The estate planning for digital assets focus is the first of its kind at a conference like this," says Joel Bruckenstein, one of the conference organizers, along with David Drucker. "It could be online files, pictures, emails or anything in a digital vault. What happens if the deceased had opted out of paper statements and passwords are needed to access everything on the cloud?"
Bruckenstein adds there's very little state and contractual law yet in place to address the issue, and what is available is "conflicting."
The eighth annual technology conference for independent broker-dealers and their affiliated advisors will also focus on what he refers to as core subjects: customer relationship management (CRM) software, financial planning software and rebalancing software or "all that advisors care about on an ongoing basis."
