What happens to my books when I die?

alabama24 said:

William Dillard said:

Can i will my digital library to my children?

Yes. 

If you search the forums, you will see that this is a perennial topic of discussion.

I know that death is often a shunned subject but considering there are around 1,000,000 Logos users (give or take), many of us will be passing on in the near future. (Life is but a vapour.) It would be comforting to get an official blog post or something that instructs us how to properly pass on the great blessing of our Logos libraries to minimize post-passing legal entanglements. A grieving widow is not likely to sit on hold with Customer Service waiting to find out how to transfer her late husband's Logos to a needy seminary student. If a Pastor has no will can he still bequeath his Logos to another? Can a trust assume title to a Logos license? Would a user's library disappear if he leaves no will?  We do a lot of question asking in the forums but these are questions that need to be answered.

It would be nice to have a beneficiary designation added to our account profiles on Logos.com. Fast & easy solution.

 

As many have said, it needs to be done through a will.  I do wish Logos would be more specific about this topic.

FYI though Whyndell, it has to given to a person not an organization (school, church, etc)

If the number of "views" (as in viewing of this thread) is any indication, many users could be interested in a straight Q&A for this issue.

Super Tramp said:

Again, I wish Logos would make it easier to bequeath by placing a beneficiary designation in our account profile. It would be easier to keep updated and protect our investments. 

 

Such a "beneficiary designation" would likely not stick, for various legal reasons. It would only give users a false impression that a proper bequest had been made.

Robert J Smith said:

 

 No, I would not say I was offended. Some how I missed the "yes" in your response. What I saw was a message telling him he should search the forum. Searching the forum is not as simple as it sounds. For instance I tried a search using his OP question and received a not found response, even though the thread is there. I have never been able to find anything with the search function in the forum. 

 

Right - not regarding the always helpful Alabama - but on the search function. Logos Bible Software is a search monster but the forum only yields about a 20% return for me and that's being generous. 

Wow, it‘s like SuperTramp returned!  I hope his family got his books. He seemed to know.

I agree, no reason Logos can create a legal form the would also list the Beneficiary.

I have already spent several thousand dollars over the past 25+ years but hesitant to purchase the new upgrades, feature sets that do cost more money and not have my books guaranteed by Logo so to go to a Beneficiary.

Really, nothing more legal then Logos/FaithLife having their own form, beneficiary listed the company honoring it.  Not need for outside lawyers. Just honor a verified beneficiary, etc.

Not that difficult.

Search through Google. Example: Books when I die Logos forum. This will give you more and better results than searching the actual forums. I found different threads that were similar in nature. You don’t even need quotation marks.

DAL

Mike Binks said:

Pendeta said:

I agree, no reason Logos can create a legal form the would also list the Beneficiary.

I have already spent several thousand dollars over the past 25+ years but hesitant to purchase the new upgrades, feature sets that do cost more money and not have my books guaranteed by Logo so to go to a Beneficiary.

Really, nothing more legal then Logos/FaithLife having their own form, beneficiary listed the company honoring it.  Not need for outside lawyers. Just honor a verified beneficiary, etc.

Not that difficult.

Executor contacts Faithlife - pays $20 dollars - resources transferred.

Not that difficult.

No need for a form that has to be kept up-to date.

My understanding (from the forums--not from Faithlife directly) is that a person's will has to specifically state what is to happen with Logos.  If that's true, does the will have to name the person to whom Logos will go, or can the will leave that decision to an executor or even to those named as inheritors in the will?  If the person has to be named, I see that as a problem because my beneficiary of choice might easily change over time simply as a result of where a person's family members are in their walk with the Lord, their interest in serious Bible study, and their stage of life.  A will is a lot more expensive (and inconvenient) to change than a beneficiary named on a Faithlife web page.

Faithlife is the only entity that has to honor the beneficiary designation, so having a web page where a beneficiary could be named, along with a follow-up email from Faithlife acknowledging the change, would (for me) be the least expensive and most convenient way to handle it.  The acknowledgement email from Faithlife could then also be easily forwarded by the Logos owner to other family members--or at the very least to the family member who is to be the beneficiary.

But if the only way to pass Logos along is to have specific instructions in a will regarding what is to happen with Logos, the least expensive and most convenient way to do that would be to either leave the decision to the executor of the will, or if no executor is named, to have the will state that the person to inherit Logos will be decided by those named in the will, as is done with so many of the other personal property items that a person leaves behind.

The bottom line for me is that if a will is required for Logos to be passed to someone else, I don't want to have to keep changing my will just because I'm required to name in advance, the person who will inherit Logos.  Of course, if Faithlife would provide a beneficiary web page for Logos owners, and then send owners an acknowledgement email when a beneficiary is added or changed, then the will could simply state that Logos is to go to the person named in the most recent beneficiary acknowledgement email sent by Faithlife.

I know... Faithlife has little to gain by providing a beneficiary page other than the goodwill of Logos owners and the potential for additional version upgrades and resource purchases made by the beneficiary.  But, it's nice to dream. 

Rick Ausdahl said:

I think it's fine to allow a person to name someone as a Logos beneficiary in a will, but I still feel a beneficiary page would be a more convenient option for Logos owners, and for Faithlife, perhaps even be a step farther away from the death-management business than requiring something in a will.

Rick, just discussing ... and convenience is good.

But imagine a pastor (the bulk of Logosians) that has believing kids (possibly pastors), and grandkids (ditto). And a hefty asset ... Logos. And the kids highly value their dad/granddad, and his choices. Years back, he filled in the FL transfer-at-death form. And forgot (getting old). Then, executes his will (after many reminders from his aging wife). This is not far from reality ... and I hate to admit family competition. It's really quite amazing to watch.

FL should step in separately? For what?

Good people.  Good fun.  I sure do enjoy these forums!   [:)]

PLUS... I'm forever learning something new.  Today it was Talisker.  [;)]

You know..... in thinking about this.... it looks to be advatagious to have a page in the Logos program whereby the owner can set it all up there... and once the owner is gone... then the new owner is in.

I am with Edward Jones on some things and I filled out a form and it's on file with Edward Jones such that when my dimise comes... it is an automatic done deal. My wife or my kids get my one dollar two ninety eight cents. [8-|]

Looks like the process could be that simple in Logos..... The ole KISS system!

DMB said:

FL would be crazy (exagerating) to get into the death-management business.

Don't forget the possibility/probability of Capital Gains taxes once any politician gets wind of the fact that theology books only increase in cost/value as the years roll along.  FL would have to hire a entire department of bean-counters and IT types to keep track of all of the cost basis, proceeds, dates of acquisition, dates of sale, not to mention having to mail out IRS Form 1099-FLs each year.  🤫shhh

DMB said:

... maybe funerals are another possible market?

Let's see, the Logos Starter package would be a cardboard box, a dash of quicklime, and a cassette tape playing "I'll Fly Away" in the background.  The Logos Collector's Edition package (aka the Elijah Special) would be a trip to heaven in a chariot and horses of fire.  [;)]

DMB said:

I was thinking more along the lines of being able to 'reappear' after your death ... maybe a Proclaim module, special prayers for the disinterested, newspaper clippings to your own desires, digital flowers (with aromas) ... the list is pretty endless (but not eternal).  I tried to think of how you could fit in a collection ... that's the key.

Ahh, I see.  Well then, Virtual Reality is the vehicle to use, definitely FL VR ...

    😉

While the focus has been on FL knowing to whom you want FL to transfer your library after you qualify for the Logos ‘Streets of Gold’ Base Package wouldn’t FL need proof you had died and proof of who you have assigned to be the executor of your will. As not all Logos users live in US  might need to know if ‘death taxes’ existed in other countries and there impact on the transfe.  Or you could just transfer your library before you die - except we don’t always have an idea when that might happen. 

Matthew C Jones said:

Mathew Haferkamp said:

FYI though Whyndell, it has to given to a person not an organization (school, church, etc)

This is true. BobP has said the license is held by an individual, not a library/school/church. This fact makes me believe the license can not be placed in a trust but must be willed to a recipient. Again, I wish Logos would make it easier to bequeath by placing a beneficiary designation in our account profile. It would be easier to keep updated and protect our investments.

 

Love the idea of a beneficiary placed on the account. Quite a next level idea releasing me personally to purchase more books now that I might not ever read, but would love the idea of them being available to my progeny.  

Pendeta said:

Right!  That is my point as well...just put a beneficiary field in the profile/account field and honor it!

I did get a reply back from Faithlife Support:

Thank you for reaching out to Faithlife Customer Support! 

We appreciate you planning for the future! In the case of leaving your resources to your heir/inheritor, we do a license transfer agreement. Essentially, if you place it in your will, the inheritor or next of kin just needs to reach out to us with your account details (name, email address, and death certificate) and we do the license transfer at that point. If you know who you want to be the inheritor, we'd be happy to add a note to your account in regards to that person! 

Thank you for working on this with us!

Emily Dalton
Faithlife Support Department

Pendeta, thank you for sharing your reply from Faithlife Support.

Just to clarify though, while Support said they'd be happy to add a note to your account in regard to whom you'd like to inherit your resources, the reply does not specifically say the note is all that will be needed. That portion of the reply about adding a note, is still preceded with a statement that the transfer would take place if the inheritor is named in your will and would take place after the other "details (name, email address, and death certificate)" are provided.

It's encouraging to know they are willing to add a note to the account, but the response does not say the transfer will be made if the note on the account is the only indicator regarding transfer of resources--i.e. without the inheritor also being named in a will.

This is just my own opinion, but I think having an official place on Faithlife's web site (e.g. on Faithlife's "Profile" page for the account holder), stating that Faithlife will execute the transfer of resources to the named person upon receipt of the same info they ask for when the person is named in a will, is the only way the account holder can have any confidence the transfer will take place without the inheritor being named in a will.

So again, I appreciate Faithlife's response--it is encouraging.  But I can't feel comfortable relying on such a vague statement about them adding a note to the account, when there are other places (including their reply to you) where they have clearly stated the inheritor has to be named in a will.

Hopefully, they'll add a place for inheritor info to the "Profile" section of the account (or someplace else within the account web pages) to make it official that the transfer can take place without the need of the inheritor being named in a will.

DMB said:

I still can't imagine FL doing anything much with such notes. If you've had a parent die, maybe a sibling executor, state laws concerning intestate, etc,, FL isn't likely to wade in, especially with 5-digit assets. 

What if a will contradicts a note you forgot about? Or didn't? The state appoints an executor?

This thread masks the point: make a will and save your family a major headache.

This is very wise counsel. As MJ said in a prior response in this thread and DMB states here, once a person passes away, estate law come into play. So, Logos may not legally be able to honor a beneficiary added to one's account. The two wisest options are to either be prepared to transfer your license before your death or name a beneficiary in your will. We ran into a situation similar to this with my mom's iPhone when she passed away. Apple would let us into the iphone without seeing her will.

My will states the executor is to consult with my church to find an individual (seminarian, pastor, missionary, etc.) who will take my Logos resources. Of course, I could have named a specific individual, but right now I don't have one, so I thought the best course of action was to have the leadership of the church assist with this. I can go back and change this if I need to later. My $.02.

Bill Anderson said:

DMB said:

I still can't imagine FL doing anything much with such notes. If you've had a parent die, maybe a sibling executor, state laws concerning intestate, etc,, FL isn't likely to wade in, especially with 5-digit assets. 

What if a will contradicts a note you forgot about? Or didn't? The state appoints an executor?

This thread masks the point: make a will and save your family a major headache.

This is very wise counsel. As MJ said in a prior response in this thread and DMB states here, once a person passes away, estate law come into play. So, Logos may not legally be able to honor a beneficiary added to one's account. The two wisest options are to either be prepared to transfer your license before your death or name a beneficiary in your will. We ran into a situation similar to this with my mom's iPhone when she passed away. Apple would let us into the iphone without seeing her will.

My will states the executor is to consult with my church to find an individual (seminarian, pastor, missionary, etc.) who will take my Logos resources. Of course, I could have named a specific individual, but right now I don't have one, so I thought the best course of action was to have the leadership of the church assist with this. I can go back and change this if I need to later. My $.02.

My main concern with "naming" a person in a will, is that the person you'd like to inherit your Logos resources could easily change based on many factors.  For example:  their relationship with the Lord changes; their desire or interest in digital Bible study software changes; they pass away or become incapacitated; their relationship to the Logos account holder changes (sadly family separations do happen).

The intended inheritor might change several times over the course of even just a few years.  A will is an important document.  Changing a will is inconvenient and can be costly--it's not the kind of document I want to have to change, just because of changes in the person I want to inherit my Logos resources.

At the same time, having different inheritors named in Faithlife and in a will, is a valid concern.  Rather than Faithlife requiring an inheritor to be named "in the will", they could also honor a will that states the inheritor has been named in the Logos account holder's profile.

To the valid concern raised about an account holder that names an inheritor in a will AND in their profile, but names different people, Faithlife could have a disclaimer that wills trump profiles.

One other option to prevent frequent changes to a will, would be for Faithlife to officially allow a will to state that one of the duties of a will's executor, will be to name the inheritor of the Logos resources.  I have never seen this stated by Faithlife as an option.  I realize a will has to be altered if the executor changes, but I think a change in executor is far less likely than a change in the person who will inherit Logos resources.