Promotion of Legally Binding Digital Wills... Will 'Analog Heaven' Japan Change?

There is also an effect that prevents the risk of loss or tampering

A system will be established in analog powerhouse Japan that allows the creation and storage of legally valid digital wills.

According to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 6th, the Japanese Ministry of Justice plans to launch an expert panel within this year to review the digital will system and set the direction for the new system around March next year.

The new will system is expected to allow the creation of digital wills using PCs or smartphones and storing them in the cloud or other means.

Under Japan's current Civil Code provisions, there are three types of wills: holographic wills handwritten by the testator on paper, notarial wills entrusted to a notary public, and secret wills sealed and stored by a notary office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among these, a holographic will has no legal effect unless the testator writes the main text and date by hand on paper and signs and seals it.

Moreover, holographic wills stored by the government have detailed regulations on paper size, margins, and how to number pages, making it difficult for ordinary people to write them, and many often seek help from lawyers.

However, if wills can be created online, anyone can directly make a will by entering information according to a fixed format, even if they are not familiar with such systems. Additionally, there is no risk of loss, and using blockchain technology can prevent tampering risks.

Nihon Keizai explained the background for promoting the digital will system as "introducing an easy-to-use will system in the digital society to enable smooth inheritance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.