The question has not only a moral and ethical aspect, but also a purely economic one, since social network accounts can bring good profit to owners, and considerable funds can be invested in the purchase of a music and video collection.

By analogy with the development of inheritance law on traditional property, let's try to analyze what is happening with the inheritance of “digital” assets.


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A brief history of traditional inheritance law

Legal scholars note that the concept of inheritance, as succession in the property of the deceased, does not appear immediately and goes through several stages in its development.

0 - there is no inheritance, any person can take possession of the property of the deceased, since there is an idea of ​​the ownership of certain things to a person, but there is still no idea of ​​ownership

1 - with the advent of the family, the property of the deceased remains in the family, as the family helps him in life, avenges murder, etc. Therefore, close people get the rights to his property

2 - with the emergence of a developed economic turnover, the hereditary mass is not thought of as scattered property, but as a kind of unity, a set of assets and debts. The hereditary mass merges into a legal whole and goes to certain persons, the heirs. Heirs receive not only assets, but must pay off the debts of the deceased. There is an institution of inheritance.

3 - inheritance is carried out only by law, since the identity of the deceased is not absorbed by family and family, therefore, no desire to dispose of his property is taken into account.

4 - with the development of an understanding of personal rights and freedoms, changes are allowed in the legally established order of inheritance - it is possible to distribute property not in equal shares between sons (the younger fool remains a cat in boots), gradually there is an opportunity to dispose of movable property and then real estate not in favor relatives. There is a testamentary freedom.

5 - with the development of the state and the idea of ​​observing public interests, the possibilities of inheritance are limited in favor of the state (restriction on inheritance by distant and lateral relatives, inheritance tax) and in favor of needy relatives (compulsory share).

Who has time, here you can study the materiel in more detail .

Inheritance of digital assets

I would venture to suggest that the inheritance of accounts and other assets follows a similar scenario, only much faster. At the same time in the moment you can see all the stages of the process.

Without examples, the reasoning would be completely ridiculous, so let's go straight to the examples of the planned stages (the list can be supplemented, leave links and examples in the comments).

0 - it is clear that thinking about the inheritance of accounts was not immediately, but came to this much quickly. However, most Internet services now do not regulate this problem at all.

1 - Account is deleted after death. Definitely.
No right to further action and transfer.
Your Yahoo! is non-transferable, and any rights to your login or information content on Yahoo! within your account will be canceled if you die. If we receive a copy of the death certificate, the corresponding account may be canceled and all of its informational content will be permanently destroyed.
(p. 26.9. Yahoo! Terms of Service )

The page is restricted in access at the request of any person with the provision of evidence, is deleted only at the request of relatives
The pages of the dead users will be closed with the privacy "Only friends".
All applications must contain a specific link to a specific page.
All applications must be confirmed by a death certificate. Applications without a death certificate are not considered.
Attention
Pages at the request of friends are not deleted. The page can be deleted only at the request of relatives with the provision of a relative document and death certificate of the user.
Access to the page of the dead users is not available.
VK rules

2 and 3 - While the legislation is lagging behind online in this matter and practically does not interfere in their decision, leaving the question at the discretion of the service and users. However, there are already cases of government intervention in the order of inheritance of accounts. The first example is the Delaware State in August 2014 passed a law allowing the registration of ownership of Internet accounts owned by a deceased citizen.

4 - Google gently names the testamentary disposition of the account service "Just in case" - you can designate a trustee, to whom Google will send a letter on your behalf about access to the account. You can even write this letter in advance (what is not a will?) And specify specific services to which access will be granted.
So that you are not afraid to shock a confidant with a letter from the next world, even a sample letter is given by reference.

5 - Facebook provides ample opportunities to manage the page, not only delete it, but also set up account settings in the “Memorable Status” section in case of death:

Accounts in memorable status is a place that unites friends and family members, where they can share memories of a person who has passed away. Accounts in memorable status have the following main

The user can designate a custodian whose functions are similar to the manager of a will. In limiting the rights of the custodian, you can see the features of the restriction of freedom of the will

A custodian is a person of your choice who will be responsible for your account if memorable status is established for that. After setting the memorable status for your account, your chosen keeper will be able to perform


It seems that the rules will evolve and come to a common unity. In the future, the established norms will appear in the law. We will live and see what happens next. What do you think?