Meet Jeffrey Berk | Estate Organizer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeffrey Berk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeffrey, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Digital Life Advisors started when my father, a retired Attorney, who was going into the hospital for lung cancer surgery, decided he wanted an inventory of all his digital and physical property – his passwords, account information, documents, photos and everything else on his computer in addition to his physical possessions. My mother is not tech-savvy so he wanted to make sure that if something happened to him, she could access all their information. He also wanted to make sure that his digital legacy – his writings, photos and videos – would be able to be passed on to my family and me in an efficient way. But he couldn’t find anyone who could help him. His Estate Planner told him that he didn’t do that work. His Accountant and tech person told him the same thing. He couldn’t find a professional who organized estates. So, he called me.

We scheduled a time to meet for 30 minutes. The meeting lasted 4 hours over 2 days. Together, we uncovered forgotten online accounts, photographs buried on a site he no longer used (and didn’t tell anyone about) and award and loyalty points he would not have been able to transfer had he died. His file organization, passwords, and security plan needed an overhaul. In addition, we inventoried, researched and photographed his high-value physical possessions – his designer clothing pieces and his collections of artwork and wine. (Physical items and their digital representations are now collectively referred to as “phygitals”.) I worked with my dad regularly over the next few months fine-tuning his plan.

My dad passed away March 15, 2024. Although his health was failing, his death was unexpected. My family and I are so grateful that he had the foresight to plan ahead and think about us. Solving his estate settlement puzzle was easy because there was a plan in place. While the average estate takes 700-1200 hours (over 12-18 months) to settle, I settled his in less than 250 hours – 90% of his affairs were handled within 4 months of his passing.

I saw the opportunity in starting an Estate Organizing company. I chose the name DIGITAL LIFE ADVISORS. There was no competition in L.A. – only a few people who did it in the U.S. It was a completely open playing field and there was momentum because my father knew other attorneys and financial advisors who could introduce me to their clients. I am thankful that so many elements came together at just the right time.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My digital organizing career began at “ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings” during college when I was a digital archivist in New York. I organized digital media for their newly created digital library. Digital media was a new concept in the 1980s and it was exciting to be at the forefront of an advanced, new tool being used to produce news television programs.

My digital organizing experience continued after college when I shifted from news to entertainment. My first job in the film industry was researching, locating and organizing props for a restaurant concept that was being developed called “Planet Hollywood”. That entertainment-related job led me to coordinating and line producing movies, TV series and documentaries all over the world. As a Line Producer, I organized projects’ logistics, crew, contracts and budgets. One key part of my responsibilities was overseeing all the organizing and disposition of the property the productions acquired during filming – both the digital information and the physical assets – everything from the camera equipment to the props and wardrobe to the picture vehicles.

I had 2 other side projects that centered around tech during my 25 years of filmed production. I owned a pre-Geek Squad boutique company called Mac Handyman that was based in West Los Angeles in the 1990s. We provided IT services and support to Macintosh computer owners. And in the 2000s I founded a startup company called Giftday.com. Our company, along with a handful of employees, marketed date-related gifts over the Internet. Some of our better known gift recipients were Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Kimmel, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michelle Pfeiffer.

My next career was in education. In 2020, Covid created a teacher shortage in L.A. I left Hollywood to become a public-school teacher. (It was a lifelong childhood dream of mine.) Up until that time, I had never been “in front of the camera” and was always “behind the scenes”. Teaching gave me the ability to gain confidence and step up in front of people while performing and educating. I learned how to publicly speak and how to be effective presenting new ideas and information.

It has been an amazing journey. Archiving, producing, tech and education have all led me here. As Estate Organizer is an entirely new profession. I have to learn from others who are doing similar work. One of the first professional groups I joined was the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). About 1/4 of their members are digital organizers who focus on relevant subjects like inventorying, digitizing and tech productivity. I am working with them to grow our profession by advocating for its critical need. I’m confident that the number of professions in my field will explode in the next 2-5 years.

There are 2 other aspects of my career other than digitizing that I am now focused on – archiving / tech best practices and working with older adults. I joined the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) and the National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC). I am also involved with dementia support groups, Alzheimer’s organizations and caregiver support groups.

The key takeaway is this: nobody should not have to go through the incapacitation or death of a loved one while also navigating a logistical and financial end-of-life mess. I want to help my clients steer away from confusion, anxiety and stress related to end-of-life logistics. I do what I do because I know the families I work with won’t have to spend the 700-1200 hours over 15 months the average American family needs to in order to settle an estate. These families will have more time to be there for each other. It’s a noble profession and I’m very proud to be an Estate Organizer.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a week to show a friend L.A., I would take them to both typical tourist places as well as off-the-beaten track sites. I’d certainly take them to Beverly Hills, Downtown, Pasadena, Santa Monica and Venice, Malibu, Hollywood, West Hollywood and to streets like Melrose, Larchmont, Robertson and Main Street. But I’d also take them to less touristy, vibrant parts of the city like Silverlake and Echo Park, Highland Park, South Pasadena and East Hollywood. We’d visit the stars homes not in Beverly Hills but in Brentwood. We’d hit up iconic L.A. eating joints like The Old Place in Agoura Hills, The Apple Pan and Pann’s Coffee Shop. We’d oogle at stars at the Polo Lounge and Spago, the Restaurant at the Hotel Bel Air and Nobu and Neptune’s Net in Malibu. We’d stop at Hollywood Forever and we wouldn’t miss The Broad and The Getty. We’d definitely need a full week to do all that!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shout-out to Kate Hufnagel, the Digital Wrangler, an estate organizer and self-professed “digital wrangler” based in Colorado. Kate is a pioneer in our business and she has an impeccable reputation. There are not many digital organizers who specialize in estates – no more than a dozen in the U.S. Kate is a trailblazer. She advocates for it…. shines a light on it and provides information and resources to people and families who are not aware that there is a profession that addresses digital assets.

Kate has connected me with groups like the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and other digital asset and estate planning groups. She has helped promote the idea that everyone should plan for their mortality so that family and friends can focus on celebrating someone’s life after incapacitation or passing away rather than becoming buried in the potentially all-consuming work of settling their affairs. Kate speaks on television, the radio and other media. I’ve learned so much from her. I’ve also learned a lot from Chanel Reynolds in Seattle. Chanel is another mentor and I’ve taken classes and met with her when I’ve had questions about digital organizing. Her company is called GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER and her message is powerful and sobering. She experienced the sudden death of her husband and saw firsthand what happens without a proper estate organization plan. She is a wealth of information. Another resource is Jennifer Gumbel. I have taken classes from her as well. She is an experienced Estate Planner in Minnesota who preaches the gospel of planning in simple, straightforward terms. I highly recommend her classes and seminars to anyone wanting to know more about estate planning.

Website: https://www.DigitalLifeAdvisors.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreylawrenceberk

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeffreylberk

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/digital-life-advisors-los-angeles