Dealing with Digital Assets: A Guide for Private Client Solicitors

Dealing with Digital Assets is a concise and practical book that provides much-needed guidance on an area of law which is complex and developing quickly.

It covers both the practical and legal aspects of digital assets in making wills and administering estates, including:

• how to identify digital assets
• what the law says on who actually owns them
• who has access to those digital assets on death
• dealing with common social media platforms and key challenges such as jurisdictional, security, and confidentiality issues; bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
• problems of confidentiality and unauthorised access (e.g. when devices are used for business purposes)
• how digital assets should be dealt with in comparison to traditional equivalents (e.g. the difference in treatment between hard copy and digital photos)
• an explanation of the law as it stands in England and Wales, as well as the proposals from the recent Law Commission consultation on wills reform.

Also included are useful documents and precedents and advice on the practical steps to take at various stages of administering estates.

table of content

1. What are digital assets?

2. The Law as it stands

3. A private client solicitor's guide to intellectual property;

4. Issues to consider when drafting wills;

5. Issues to consider post-death.

Appendices.