The Digital Estate

The Digital Estate provides an analysis of the rights and liabilities associated with digital information passing from, to and through computing and other devices owned and controlled by fiduciaries, including trustees, personal representatives, lasting and other attorneys.

• Offers guidance on the administration of digital assets
• Provides an analysis of the rights and liabilities associated with digital information passing from, to and through computing and other devices owned and controlled by fiduciaries, including trustees, personal representatives, lasting and other attorneys, partners and company directors
• Presents solutions to the problems that the individual and his or her personal representatives may face in securing succession to assets and safe transmission of information that may otherwise be deleted, locked or lost
• Guides the practitioner through predeath preventative measures relating to wills
• Considers the issues that arise when an individual who owns assets or stores information online, dies
• Goes through steps to be taken during probate for the administration of digital assets
• Covers claims and recovery, including costs and proceedings
• Deals with specific roles in administration including personal representatives, trustees and agents and attorneys
• Includes guidance on the actions to take or consider in the administration of digital information or assets, including drafting for the digital estate featuring precedents for will drafting and Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Examines the principles of English law that define the proprietary nature of information, taking into account the approach to this issue in other jurisdictions, such as the US, Australia and New Zealand
• Identifies the property rights that are associated with information and examine their operation, such as intellectual property rights, contractual rights, and other rights, such as bitcoin and the associated blockchain technology
• Investigates the principles applicable to the use of digital information that has no proprietary status
• Assesses the regulatory consequences of the control or use of digital information, including data protection, financial regulation and computer misuse