By Kasey Joyce
St. Louis (KSDK) -- Do you tweet, blog, use iTunes or Facebook?
Have you ever stopped to think what would happen to your online life if you passed away? Would your loved ones know what to do with your accounts? What would happen to your music library? Your pictures? Your blogs?
It may sound a little morbid, but you might want to start planning for your digital afterlife.
Matthew Koons never imagined he'd be burying his wife after less than three years of marriage. He was only 31.
"That was pretty much the hardest thing I've ever been through," Koons said.
Koons wasn't sure what his wife would have wanted with her online life, so he made the decision to finally close the accounts for good. He started with Facebook.
"It was kind of like closing the book on that chapter of my life," Koons explained.
He thought he had closed her account. That is, until a hacker managed to reactivate it and started sending spam messages to her friends and family.
"I was angry and it really rattled a bunch of her friends," Koons said. "One of her friends posted, 'I just received spam from beyond the grave. What a great start to my day.'"
Koons did eventually manage to permanently deactivate the account.
But as local estate attorney Tim Yaeglin explains, technology is changing the way some people are looking at death.
"It means we have to ask more questions of our clients," Yaeglin said. "No cookie cutter estate plans. We really have to delve into what they need as an individual."
Because right now, there's no easy way to spell out what will happen to your online assets-- all those pictures, songs, emails and writings in your computer.
"If it's important to you that your accounts pass a certain way or that someone have control of it, consult an attorney to maximize control that you have after you die," Yaeglin recommends.
Evan Carroll and John Romano literally wrote the book on the digital beyond.
They say in some cases a lawyer and a formal will are helpful. In other cases, all it takes is a little planning.
"Start by creating an online inventory of your most valuable assets," Romano recommends. "The most important things you have online, make a list of them."
Include your passwords, user names and what you want to happen after your gone. You can give the information to a loved one or put it somewhere safe. There are even online companies who will take care of everything for you.
"It's the planning that's the most important part," Romano said. "No matter how you do it just make sure it gets done."
Koons says, as hard as it was to digitally deactivate his wife's accounts, it also brought him peace.
"Deleting the account is kind of like saying, this person is gone," Koons said. "Time to accept it and move on."
Carroll and Romano have put together an extensive website, explaining everything you might need to know to plan for your digital afterlife. They have also written a book on the subject, for more information, visit their website.
KSDK