Until very recently, the tombstone was the only real option most people had when choosing what form of permanent legacy to leave behind. These monuments of stone and marble, though durable, offered very little in the way of leaving behind something easily accessed and more substantive to remind others about your life. Now, however, new websites are allowing people to create digital memorials that may last much longer and at least offer the chance to leave behind more than a few words.

Digital tombstones

A digital tombstone allows you to assemble information about your life in one place. You can keep photographs, letters, videos, and other important information about your life so that your family and friends can view it online whenever they choose. These services also allow others to leave their own recollections about you.

Digital Thumbprints

If you are uncomfortable with the idea of leaving behind a digital legacy, you may want to consider that there is probably already something on the Internet about you. What is currently out there is probably very erratic and does not present a complete picture about your life.

Digital Estate Planning

Apart from your digital memorial, you’ll also want to consider any private information that you have either online or on computer files. If this information is secured by a password or simply hidden in a computer hard drive somewhere, it may be hard for your family to locate and access it to use in any digital memorial. This is why it’s important to include clear instructions about how to access any digital information you have in your estate plan.