Secure your legacy for biodiversity during Make-A-Will Month
Each member of the iNaturalist community makes unique contributions to our global understanding of biodiversity by adding observations and/or identifications. Have you thought about your iNaturalist account as a digital legacy to secure?
August is Make-A-Will Month, which makes this a great time to create a clear plan for your iNaturalist account and your other assets.
iNaturalist has partnered with FreeWill to make it free and easy to complete your estate planning for people in the United States.
There are two key areas to consider:
1. Securing your iNaturalist account for maximum impact
Your iNaturalist account should be treated as a digital asset in your will and any other estate planning documents. You should describe your wishes for your iNaturalist account, and most importantly, who should be the person to fulfill them. Clarity is important so that your iNaturalist account is set up for maximum long-term impact and isn’t deleted by a well-intentioned person.
In FreeWill, in the section called “gifts” you enter your iNaturalist account as a “property” (the type is “digital”). We recommend you designate loved ones as the primary and contingent beneficiaries for your iNaturalist account. You can unambiguously describe it with these details:
Website: https://www.inaturalist.org
Username: [your username]
User id: [your numeric user id] - (you can find this in the URL of your profile)
Associated email address: [email address]
[Include any guidance, which may include changing some settings for maximum long-term impact]
Outside the United States, you’ll need to consult other resources to make sure that your wishes are legally binding.
2. Supporting loved ones and causes you care about
It’s essential to consider your loved ones in the process of estate planning, including your pets. Many people also take the opportunity to designate charitable gifts to causes that are important to them. We encourage you to consider how gifts from your estate can support biodiversity.
FreeWill makes it easy to designate iNaturalist or any other US nonprofit organization as a primary or contingent beneficiary of your estate. You can choose to either notify the organization about your gift intentions or not.
Nothing you create on FreeWill is binding until it’s signed, so you can take a look even if you’re just curious.
We hope that you will explore these free resources to ensure that your contributions to understanding biodiversity through iNaturalist are secured for the future.
Comentarios
A big step for iNat! Thanks for putting this together. :)
FYI, "settings for maximum long-term impact" looks like a link, but doesn't link anywhere.
@chris_nelson thanks, the link is fixed!
Is this relevant for those of us who disregard own intellectual property rights and post under CC0 public domain waiver?
@erquint that's great that you've configured your account settings for maximum openness. It's still a good idea to clarify your long-term intentions for your iNaturalist account in your estate planning so there's no confusion.
I am much concerned about my iNaturalist content to permanently serve for biodiverity knowledge, and would not think anybody after me would operate my account for this purpse better than iNaturalist itselfI, whose purpose is the same. Can I designate iNaturalist as a heir of my account after me? (I assume the sense of 'benificiary' above is about this, sorry, I am not keen in juridical English.) I am outside USA, so I realise this might have little sense.
@oleg_kosterin iNaturalist will continue to maintain your account as-is without any intervention by default, so it's not necessary to designate iNaturalist as the beneficiary (or heir). We still recommend that you leave instructions for someone you trust to update your profile after your passing.
Thanks for posting this; it's a helpful guide. I would certainly want my heirs to leave my account and update my profile.
That's great to hear, @joanchiasson. Thanks for the feedback!
I was actually wondering about an idea such as this one, especially after it was informed that an iNat member passed away however the account will be handled by some family members. Pertinent point.
@drnamgyal04 yes, it's lovely when a family member can at least post a message on their profile so that the iNat community is aware of their passing.
If the email that the iNat account is tied to is permanently deleted, I'm assuming that the iNat account will be continued to be maintained. Correct?
Yes that's correct, @pfau_tarleton.
Not applicable outside the US at the moment as obligatory to register with US state.
@tom-kirschey you're right that FreeWill is US-specific, but the general guidance to have clear instructions for your iNat account can be applied anywhere.
Agregar un comentario