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10 February 2017 / Roderick Ramage
Issue: 7733 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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E-material & testamentary directions

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Roderick Ramage discusses the challenges of will drafting in a paperless world

  • In a paperless world, the administrator has a very demanding task to discover what the deceased owned and owed if the deceased left no accessible records.

  • Computer Misuse Act 1990 and proposed law reform.

A fully committed “citizen of the internet” suffers a fatal heart attack at his keyboard: the match, with which he was about to light a cigarette, drops into the waste bin, and his computer was damaged beyond repair in the ensuing blaze. His business, financial and private lives were conducted on the paperless principle. He died intestate, and the would-be administrator of his estate needs to identify his assets and liabilities. The name Yahoo came into her mind, and someone stumbled across this passage in its 2012 terms of service: “No right of survivorship and non-transferability. You agree that your Yahoo account is non-transferable and any rights to your Yahoo ID or contents within your account terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

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HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
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