Inheritance Law in the Twenty-First Century: New Circumstances and Challenges

This chapter explores the influence of technology on traditional components of inheritance. An increasing amount of social interaction takes place online. Consequently, people accumulate large quantities of digital assets. Some of these assets have a considerable material value, while others might have emotional value for the family of a decedent. They might also have historical value for society in general. However, from the standpoint of inheritance law, in many countries it is unclear what happens to digital assets after their owner/user dies. These assets represent a new type of “property” and few legislators around the world have regulated them specifically. The need to implement these assets into inheritance law is why it is important for law students to be familiar with the concept of digital assets, understand their categories, as well as the differences between them. The chapter also considers possible solutions on what will happen to them, post mortem . To map the landscape for the readers, the chapter divides digital assets into four comprehensive groups and explains what happens to each of these digital assets post mortem . This chapter also lists the reasons why some of these assets cannot be inherited and possible problems with inheritance of those digital assets that are inheritable.