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Social Media Accounts Part of Deceased Oklahomans' Estates
An anonymous reader writes "Estate executors or administrators in Oklahoma have the power to access, administer or terminate the online social media accounts of the deceased, according to a new state law. '"The number of people who use Facebook today is almost equal to the population of the United States. When a person dies, someone needs to have legal access to their accounts to wrap up any unfinished business, close out the account if necessary or carry out specific instructions the deceased left in their will," Kiesel said.'"
I think they'll probably go along with it. Facebook has an increasing awkwardness problem with the accounts of dead people, and has made some efforts to mitigate it via things like "memorializing" pages. To the extent that someone wants to make "figure out what to do with the dead person's Facebook account" part of the estate-resolution process, it basically takes the problem off Facebook's hands and passes it to someone else.
The main stumbling block I can think of is how to set up a procedure for handing off an account. You have to verify that the person in question really is authorized to execute the deceased's estate, and that procedure might vary from state to state or country to country, which might cause some administrative hassles for Facebook.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
It has been very hard in the past for members of the deceased to close down their social networking accounts, or even post a message with the funeral information. This law should give them the ability to manage the accounts accordingly.
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
You forget an essential part of marketing: public image. My personal prediction is that social media websites will embrace these laws and even come up with a few apps on the way. It's I believe a natural transition. Social media is no longer made up of 13 year olds anymore.
right...
I'd like to know that my beneficiaries will execute a huge DDoS attack in the event of my passing. Thank you.
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
I've got a mutual agreement with a couple of different friends. They'll be able to access and attend to my accounts, and I theirs, whenever one of us dies. Not just online stuff, but dealing with personal computer stuff that family really doesn't need to be dealing with. We're all single, and happy to remain that way, so we won't have spouses to do that for us. In my social circle two people have died in the past 5 years and have had their blog account memorialized. I'm not one for sentiment, but it helps that the accounts were neither deleted nor just left without explanation. Granted, this wasn't on facebook, but presumably people who use that service frequently would feel similarly.
http://transformativeworks.org/
More interestingly (to me, since I'm not dead (yet)), if an account is part of an estate in death, then how does that affect its status in life? Is it *my* property? And if so, what rights do I have to it beyond what Facebook provides in the license agreement? And if it's not my property in life, then how can it possibly be part of my estate in death?
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
So Kati Perry really does not love me? I need a moment alone.
Well, GP's X's Katy-Perry-impersonation loves you!
Almost as good right?
Of course there are people here. This is where all the people from the coasts go when they realize that the job market where they are sucks, the people are all jerks, and it costs too much to live there.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Your debts are not "your property" in life or in death. Yet the executor of your estate has the ability by law to act for you in maintaining and settling those debts during the distribution of the estate. Your instructions as to how you wish to be memorialized/buried are not "your property" in life or in death. Yet the executor of your estate will more likely than not be authorized to carry out those instructions to the exclusion of the wishes of others.
Your estate includes not just property, but obligations, the ability to exercise legal rights, and a whole host of other activities which can be carried out by the estate entity in your stead. The family court will consider your wishes concerning the guardianship/adoption of your minor children, even though they certainly are not "your property." Your presumption that this is an either/or situation is flawed.
To my darling wife I bequeath my ebay(tm) account with the 100,000+ power seller star status. To my loved sister I bequeath my facebook(tm) account with 4999 friends and 300,000 acre strips of land in Farmville(tm). Finally to my brother who has helped me weather all the storms of my life I bequeath my WOW account with the Shadow Priest with the 6600 gear rating.
There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
Ha ha HAHHAHAHAAA ha *heh *heh* *can't breath* ha , he he he,
If they think the job market is bad on the coast, wait till they get to OK. When I left, people were fighting over jobs at McDonalds. Granted, that was a while back in a really bad recession, but I doubt it is much better or that you'll find as good of jobs there. Then there the work ethic. NYers would do fine, but people from the PNW will find a harsh change to their slacker work ethic when "free sodas in the break room" becomes "time to lean, time to clean". As for people being jerks, so long as you can handle redneck Christian bigots, you should do fine. It is cheap to live there. I could go there and buy a house for less than my annual salary in Seattle. It's also cheap because there is nothing to spend your money on unless you like Bud Lite, Rodeos, and pick up trucks.
Referring to a dictionary is the most pathetic form of argument from authority. You should be ashamed of yourself.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
Interesting, but an account is a contract, and contracts cannot be continued by a non-living person...
False. This is true for some types of contracts (like employment in your example) but not for all types. Specifically, contracts to pay out money continue after death and bind the estate. IANAL but I am a law student and I have taken Contracts.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009