Apply

Thank you for your interest in our services.  We have refined the process from this point on to the following simple steps:

  1. Provide documentation and payment.  Please mail the following documents to us. Our mailing address is:
    Digital Estate Services, LLC
    1204 Avenue U, #1042
    Brooklyn, NY 11229

    1. An original signed copy of the completed Data Services Application.
    2. A copy of court order appointing you as the executor or administrator of your loved one’s estate.
        We will only be able to work with the person authorized to act on behalf of  your loved one’s estate.  If you are not familiar with the process of settling an estate, a wealth of general information can be found here.  Please feel free to contact us if you’re having trouble finding an attorney specializing in probate matters.  Depending on where you live we may be able to provide a free referral (we do not accept referral fees from either side.)
    3. A copy of your state or government issued photo ID.
  2. Obtain confirmation. We will contact you within three business days to let you know whether we are able to provide services.
  3. Ship the hardware or make pickup arrangements. If you have selected personal on-site pickup, we will contact you to schedule a pickup time that works for you.
  4. Notify loved one’s contacts (Recommended). We urge you to notify your loved one’s known contacts of your plans to allow them to get in touch with you if they believe your loved one possessed information concerning them that they wouldn’t want you to access.
    You are seeking our services because you believe your loved one would have wanted you to recover and preserve his or her personal data and online footprint.  In considering their wishes, you may have thought about the importance of protecting other individuals that were close to your loved one.  For example, what if you discover photos or an email exchange that would be particularly embarrassing to one of your loved one’s close friends?  Certainly, this can inevitably happen outside the digital realm as you look through your loved one’s papers and possessions.  However, we urge you to take steps to minimize the chances of such situations occurring by allowing the potentially interested individuals to object and being sensitive to their requests.  Please note that if you do discover such information despite your best efforts, you are required to remove it immediately and may not share it with others.
    Tips:

    • As you notify your loved one’s contacts, be sure to provide a simple way for contacting you with an objection.  A notification can be as simple as:
      “My name is James Jones.  I am the father of Jane Jones and an administrator of her estate.  It is important to me to recover and preserve certain data from Jane’s computer as well as her online presence.  I have engaged the services of Digital Estate Services, LLC to help me locate and unlock documents, photos, and other information on her computer, reclaim her online footprint (including social networking accounts) and discover accounts that I may not be aware of.  I believe this is what Jane would have wanted and I appreciate your understanding in this difficult time.  However, should you have any serious objections to me receiving access to any particular data or medium, please send me an email at [JamesJones AT gmail.com] with Jane’s name as the subject line.  Once again, thank you for your understanding.”
    • Depending on your technical skills and your familiarity with your loved one’s contacts, you might be unsure where to begin.  Consider asking one of your loved ones’ friends to help you with this task.
    • If you have a list of email addresses of some of your loved one’s contacts (for example, if they were copied on an email you once received), you can send out the notification by email.
    • If your loved one has an account on a social networking site (Facebook / MySpace / LinkedIn / Twitter), the notification can generally be posted to their public profile (such as a Facebook “wall”) by a person that is linked to them.
    • If your loved one ran an online blog, the notification can generally be posted as a comment.