In our day to day lives we come across many cases where the bank account of a deceased lacks a nomination. This causes lots of trouble for the legal heirs to claim their own money. Although banks have adopted a simplified procedure to claim the money and other goods deposited in a bank account and bank locker yet legal formalities are required to be undertaken before claiming the same. This is, at times, a frustrating experience.
Similarly, if a person possesses a self acquired property and he dies without making a will or nomination, the property devolves upon all legal heirs irrespective of the deceased wishes.
In order to eliminate all procedural hassles and hardships and to avoid future disputes we see nomination in bank accounts and making of a will in case of self acquired properties. However, when it comes to the digital life, the scenario is totally different.
We have no concept like a digital will in India. As on date Indians cannot make an electronic will in India according to which the digital properties can devolve upon the nominee or legal heirs of the deceased.
However, Indians are increasingly showing their interests in bequeathing their digital assets to their legal heirs or designated person. People have gigabytes of digital data, information and digital assets that are virtually gone the moment they die. Naturally, they would love nears and dears to have them after their demise.
The Information technology Act, 2000 is the sole cyber law of India. As on date, a digital will in India is not part of an existing legal framework. The cyber law of India carries no provision that can authenticate a digital will in India. Nevertheless, a digital will can help in securing data from most third-party and cloud-based email, video, photo-sharing and storage service providers. You can give a power of attorney to your lawyer and she can manage the rest on your behalf with necessary legal and administrative documents supporting your claim.
In our day to day lives we come across many cases where the bank account of a deceased lacks a nomination. This causes lots of trouble for the legal heirs to claim their own money. Although banks have adopted a simplified procedure to claim the money and other goods deposited in a bank account and bank locker yet legal formalities are required to be undertaken before claiming the same. This is, at times, a frustrating experience.
Similarly, if a person possesses a self acquired property and he dies without making a will or nomination, the property devolves upon all legal heirs irrespective of the deceased wishes.
In order to eliminate all procedural hassles and hardships and to avoid future disputes we see nomination in bank accounts and making of a will in case of self acquired properties. However, when it comes to the digital life, the scenario is totally different.
We have no concept like a digital will in India. As on date Indians cannot make an electronic will in India according to which the digital properties can devolve upon the nominee or legal heirs of the deceased.
However, Indians are increasingly showing their interests in bequeathing their digital assets to their legal heirs or designated person. People have gigabytes of digital data, information and digital assets that are virtually gone the moment they die. Naturally, they would love nears and dears to have them after their demise.
The Information technology Act, 2000 is the sole cyber law of India. As on date, a digital will in India is not part of an existing legal framework. The cyber law of India carries no provision that can authenticate a digital will in India. Nevertheless, a digital will can help in securing data from most third-party and cloud-based email, video, photo-sharing and storage service providers. You can give a power of attorney to your lawyer and she can manage the rest on your behalf with necessary legal and administrative documents supporting your claim.
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