WARNING: The procedure below may seem complicated. It is not. We have just set it out in detail but you do very little except speak to the solicitor,who, together with ourselves, does the rest. In fact, it is open to you and the solicitor to apply any other process he or she suggests, such as letting the solicitor hold all the paperwork. The main objective is to ensure you understand the need for some legally binding arrangement and to set out a default system in the event you do not agree any other process. Remember, there is no charge to you over and above membership of MDE, save in the event you have not yet made a Will. At no stage are you obliged to agree to pay the solicitor to provide a Will or to incur any fee whatsoever.
WHEN YOU JOIN:-
- You complete your Digital Estate Instructions (DEI) giving information about any Will you may have made and listing your Internet accounts as well as your wishes, in each case, as to who is to manage, who is to own the intellectual property rights in the content and who is to own any monetary balance. The DEI can be updated at any time.
- We create a Unique Identifier Code (UIC) for you and notify you.
- We will notify you of the names and addresses of two solicitors selected from our panel and send to you a second form called the “Email Account Usernames”(EAU).
- You will complete the EAU with the user name(s), but not passwords, for your email account(s) and your UIC.
- You will give the first solicitor listed ( Solicitor A) the EAU.
- We will give Solicitor A your DEI.
- Solicitor A will discuss with you any requirements over completing a Will and give you advice. A Will is critical to the enforceability of your DEI.
- Solicitor A will give you a third form (“Codicil”) for you to sign, intended as a Codicil to your Will, and which will reference the requests expressed on your DEI.
- You will send to Solicitor B a fourth form downloaded from this website and which will contain the UI and the password(s), but not user name(s), for your email accounts(s).
- We will formally notify on record the management of each of the companies running the internet accounts listed in your DEI that you have joined this service and have lodged a legally binding instruction in respect of that account.
- You notify a family member(s) of your UIC and our details.
WHEN YOU PASS AWAY
- On notification of your death by a family member or Solicitor A, we put Solicitor A in contact with Solicitor B to obtain the passwords together with your DEI form.
Note:
- The only information we will hold about you is your name, the email address used to join the service, your UIC, your DEI, and the identity of Solicitors A and B.
- WE DO NOT RECEIVE OR RETAIN ANY USERNAMES OR PASSWORDS RELATING TO THE INTERNET ACCOUNTS LISTED IN YOUR DEI .
- The only information you need give to your family is your UI and our details or those of Solicitor A.
- The reason we do not, like other services, ask for the login information for all the services you are registered with is that, for most of them, access can be obtained on your demise through your email account and the ‘lost password’ routine of the relevant services. For those that do not provide that facility, you will include such in your Instructions.
- The fee for joining this service covers all matters set out on this page and carried out in your lifetime, including the completion of the Codicil (so no additional charge for the service will be raised by either of the solicitors) but does not include the fee for any new Will that may be drawn up at your request.
- Your Codicil will refer to any existing Will, and must be retained with that Will, as Solicitor A will explain. It is vital, to be effective in law, for those of your wishes set out in the DEI that seek to transfer your Intellectual Property Rights (any content comes within your IPR even if of no value) for a Will to be drawn up. You may choose to have a Will drawn up by Solicitor A or any other solicitor of your choosing or lawful will writing service. You may even choose, albeit it is not usually advisable, save for the most simple of Wills, to do it yourself. You can also decide not to make a Will, using this service solely for the protection of access to your account information and the provision of a DEI. In such event, whilst the Codicil will not be effective in law to pass on your IPR in a way contrary to that set out under the laws of intestacy, your next of kin may decide to voluntarily respect those wishes.
- On your death, a one-off charge of £75 plus VAT (rising, but not decreasing, proportion to any increase in the UK Retail Price Index) may be raised on your estate for the final completion of the service. However, this charge is only raised if the person administering your estate requires access to your DEI (Digital Estate Instructions) and/or the password(s) held by Solicitor B. If, by that time, you have entered into other arrangements that obviate this need, then no charge will be raised on your estate
