Digital wills (e-Wills)

Automobiles were not invented as a means for thieves to use as getaway cars for bank robbers. In the same way, computers and computer-like devices are put to a variety uses for which they were not originally intended. Through the ages, measures have been enforced to prevent people from making a will other than in a proscribed way. Once paper was introduced into Europe, rules were laid down to make people prepare a will on paper with a specific number of witnesses that had to sign the will or place their mark (when a person could not write), together with the person making the will. The aim is to prevent fraud. However, legislators have had to accommodate those situations where a person is dying, but has not written a will in the proscribed way, such as a soldier that lies dying on a battlefield. Oral wills made by the military can be exempt from the need for the correct form.

Now we have the internet. Legislators have changed the rules relating to the formation of contracts and a range of other transactions relating to every-day life, facilitating the use of computers to conduct business that used to be carried out in the physical world. With respect to wills, though, the rules have remained the same: virtually every country forbids the making of a will electronically. It was only a matter of time when the first electronic will was written, thus disregarding the sage decisions of legislators that always know better than those they rule over.

This short section aims to let the reader know of the cases that I am aware of in relation to the cases involving wills. It is probably not comprehensive, so if you know of a case that has been reported, please let me know.

United States of America, Tennessee

Taylor v Holt (2003), full details of this case are set out in Electronic Signatures in Law.

Norway

Case LB-2006-27667 - a translation into English and full case note by Professor Jon Bing is available in the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review, 5 (2008) 137 - 140.

South Africa

Macdonald v The Master 2002 - for an article on this case, see the 2010 issue of the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review.

Research

Dr Wendy Moncur has obtained funds to conduct some interesting research into Digital Inheritance.