ABSTRACT
The question of providing due recognition to E- Wills is not a new one. As industries across the world increasingly rely upon technology during the global outbreak of COVID-19, it should come as no surprise that legal professionals have renewed their interest in the present topic. However, at the outset, we must view the present situation with a simultaneous sense of both caution and excitement. If we keep the technological dangers apart (in arguendo), the present situation opens the door for courts to intervene and to bring about a sudden overhaul of the ancien Family and Succession Law regime in commonwealth nations. But on the other hand, numerous hurdles exist-namely with regard to the recording and testing of the genuineness of an E-Will, for example. The question of the validity of an E-Will in probate cases under the Succession Acts of various common law countries is also an interesting one. This article seeks to move a step ahead from Ghatak by analyzing how two years on from her 2017 publication, the COVID-19 crisis has, in all probability, made major common law jurisdictions (with a focus on India, the most populous and judicially overburdened of them all) move into the uncharted territory of recognizing E-Wills as a necessity. Further, this article addresses how the courts can retain their active role and thus obviate the need for a legislative process (presumably, a hushed ordinance) in order to formalize the inclusion of digital methodology.
Anand, Naman and Arora, Dikshi, Where There Is A Will, There Is No Way: COVID-19 and a Case for the Legalisation of E-Wills in India and Other Common Law Jurisdictions (2020). ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law, volume 27, no 1, 2020.
First posted 2022-02-08 09:00:40
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