Google Rolls-Out Social Media & Digital Estate Plan

Truly, Google is everywhere.  Now, the Big Data company is looking to get into your [digital] estate plan; and with some good reason.

Right around tax-time last month, Google rolled out its "digital afterlife" feature -technically and officially known as the inactive account manager.  This tool allows Google users to provide Google with specific instructions about what to do with their Google data when they die.

Google has billed this feature as something to make it easier for a user or a user's personal representative to manage a person's personal data -one's "digital estate"- after death.  The inactive account manager was initially touted in the Google Public Policy Blog.

Nearly everyone has a Google account.  Many of us have developed complex electronic profiles over the past decade; some of those profiles even have value.

The law has not caught-up with our electronic profiles.  To date, only five states -Connecticut, Idaho, Rhode Island, Indiana, and Oklahoma have estate laws addressing digital assets.  Not to worry, however, as the Uniform Law Commission has set about drafting a proposed uniform digital estate law that will make it much easier for other states, including Michigan, to adopt the appropriate legislation.

As time marches on, Google's inactive account manager is banking on the specter that a majority of their user's will want to preserve, protect or direct their data profiles.  The inactive account manager is designed to aid in this task.

It is a very 21st Century concept.  We here at the electronic  probate attorney wonder what this account manager will look like in, say, 100-years from now.

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Wayne County Probate Judge Milton Mack Receives National Award

Wayne County Probate Judge Milton Mack received the 2010 Treat Award for Excellence from the National College of Probate Judges.

In a press release, the Michigan Probate Judges Association made the following statement regarding the award:

Wayne County Probate Court Chief Judge Milton L. Mack, Jr. is the 2010 recipient of the National College of Probate Judges’ Treat Award for Excellence. The award was presented today at the National College of Probate Judges’ annual meeting. Mack is the first Michiganian to receive the award.

Judge Susan L. Dobrich, Chief Judge of Cass County Probate Court, and Hon. Patrick J. McGraw, Chief Judge of Saginaw County Probate Court, took the lead in nominating Mack for the Treat Award. They were supported by numerous probate judges and others who praised Mack for his efforts to reform Michigan’s mental health system.

“Judge Mack has made countless contributions to the improvement of the administration of justice,” Dobrich and McGraw wrote. “Judge Mack has been unyielding in finding humane and alternative solutions for the mentally ill.” Dobrich is president of the Michigan Probate Judges Association; McGraw is chair of the MPJA’s Governance Committee.

Mack, who has served as a probate judge for 20 years, has advocated changing the standard for courts to order involuntary treatment of mental illness, in order to promote early treatment and reduce crime related to mental illness. He has proposed changes to the Michigan Mental Health Code to improve access to services for the mentally ill. In April 2010, Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly of the Michigan Supreme Court highlighted Mack’s efforts in her “State of the Judiciary” address before the Legislature.

Established in 1978, the Treat Award is presented annually to one who has made “a significant contribution to the improvement of the law or judicial administration in probate or related fields.” The award is named in honor of Judge William W. Treat, founder and President Emeritus of the National College of Probate Judges. Previous recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Professor James Casner of Harvard Law School, and other prominent legal scholars.

From time to time, lawyers at Clarkston Legal have had the opportunity to appear before Judge Mack.  He is very deserving of this award.  It is very nice to have someone from our practice area receive such a distinction and honor.

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