Digital legacy refers to information, assets, services, accounts, etc. left online by a deceased person. For example, this includes assets such as money charged to a smartphone app's payment service and crypto assets.
Furthermore, even items that do not have direct monetary value can be considered a type of digital heritage, such as SNS accounts, email addresses, purchase history at online shops, and image and video files stored in cloud services.
Now, let's introduce some digital heritage problems that may actually occur.
For example, if a deceased person used an FX service, their funds may remain deposited with the FX company.
On the other hand, you may actually be incurring large losses and still owe money. Not being able to withdraw funds left by the deceased is a problem for the deceased's family, but the problem becomes even more serious when debts remain.
If the debt is not repaid forever, the FX company will naturally issue a demand, and sometimes even file a lawsuit. There is also the possibility that family members who are unaware of anything may suddenly receive news of a lawsuit.
Normally, the inheritance, both positive and negative, is passed on to the heirs in one lump sum.
If it is a plus, you can compensate for the minus from the inherited inheritance, but the problem is when the minus is greater. In such cases, procedures such as renunciation of inheritance or ``limited approval'' of inheriting negative inheritance within the positive range can be carried out, but the deadline for doing so is within three months from the date of inheritance.
It is a real possibility that someone who inherits a deceased family member's inheritance after calculating it as a positive one only to find out later that they owe a huge amount of money.
There is a strong possibility that positive assets cannot be withdrawn for crypto assets and NFTs. If the deceased managed these assets themselves in a wallet or similar device, no one other than the deceased would be able to withdraw the assets unless they knew the password.
In the case of FX, you may be able to consult with the operating company and have them deal with the issue, but if you manage crypto assets or NFTs in a wallet, the reality is that you have no choice but to give up.
At present, there is no clear way to deal with digital heritage issues such as this, and the families affected by the problem have no choice but to solve the problem one by one. If there is a possibility that you will be in the deceased's shoes, you should write down as much information about your digital assets as possible and have passwords and other information ready for your family to check.
Also, if you have elderly family members, you should also ask them for information about their digital assets.
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