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LATEST NEWS & EVENTS One in ten leave passwords in wills  More people seeking wills and inheritance tax planning advice are choosing to pass on passwords in addition to tangible assets. Roughly a quarter of adults own around £200 worth of assets that exist online, with a third considering these valuable enough to bequeath to relatives or friends, according to a study from cloud computing firm Rackspace. The survey of 2,000 people found one in ten (11 per cent) have chose to put digital passwords in their wills. Including passwords to email and internet bank accounts make it easier for executors to sort out the deceased's affairs. Richard Roberts, chairman of the Law Society's Wills and Equity Committee, thinks it is also important that executors can close off a person's social media account. In the event that someone does not choose to include a password in their will, he suggests these sites should adopt a common policy. "The website providers need to have a code of conduct that says if we are approached by a family member, as long as we're satisfied that this person is dead and this person is speaking with authority we'll take the page down," Mr Roberts told the Times. Jeremy Tucker, head of private client at Lamport Bassitt, said: "It is certainly becoming more common for people to have digital assets and this is something that we now discuss with clients. "One of the practical difficulties for executors is tracing assets where no paper trail exists and digital assets can easily be overlooked. "However, as a will becomes a public document once the Grant of Probate has been obtained I would not suggest putting account details and passwords in the will itself. I would recommend that details of electronic accounts (such as bank accounts, ebay, electronic social media details, music and photographic libraries) are listed at the time of making a will and that these details are stored with the will and regularly reviewed." The European Union is currently working on law to ensure a "right to be forgotten online". Posted by Alex McLean 
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