Using the Blockchain From the Afterlife

Blockchain technology can be used for many things, and new use cases and ideas seem to pop up almost daily. One company with a new use for blockchain tech that caught my eye recently is Eternitas. The people behind Eternitas are developing what could be called "The Immortal Will", a last will and testament that can reside in the immutable blockchain ecosphere.

_{Image courtesy of Pixabay}
Now I know I'm probably a bit older than many of you reading this, so thinking about how to be sure my assets are divided up after my death is probably something I've given more thought to than you have. But I'm truly excited about Eternitas because it can solve several long standing problems that surround wills, but can also solve a modern day problem of disbursing electronic assets.

Most of us don't like to think about death, but there is one truth we can't ignore - not a single one of us is going to make it out of this life alive. Death is a reality, and wills have been the instruments that "pass on" assets from the recently deceased to the living heirs of their choice for centuries. But, as Dr. Milosz Matuschek, the founder of Eternitas writes

There are quite a lot problems around inheritance, starting from procrastination, expensive wills or legally void wills, forgery and destruction of wills, poor proof in case of oral wills, fraudulent collusion between heirs and will executors, dispute among heirs about the "true" will, etc.

I've personally watched the family squabbles over the disposition of assets after a loved one's death, and received the sky high bills from the probate attorneys. Being able to avoid some of the issues mentioned by Dr. Matuschek is a a good thing, but really caught my eye was the ability to use blockchain tech to handle electronic assets. What happens to what is in my digital wallets if I got hit by a bus tomorrow has been in the back of my mind for a while. Everyone here on Steemit has at least one digital wallet. Many of us are hodlers of one or more cryptocurrency coins. Do YOU remember your key? I sure don't! Would the people you want to leave those crypto assets know where to find it, or even know to look for it? If you sent it to someone, can that someone be trusted not to clean you out while you were still living?

_{Image courtesy of Pixabay}
Veritas may be the answer to this and many other problems that surround the distribution of assets upon death. Here's how it will work:

• Virtual Testament online by use of templates
• Testament – handwritten will or donation on paper (or whatever is legally needed)
• Transformation of legal prose in smart contract or ricardian contract
• Store of Hash of written will in the Blockchain or in a safe database
• Execution of your will on a given life event

It can work with virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies, passwords, photos, videos and will soon also work with tokenized real assets such as real estate, shares, precious metals, artworks, insurance claims.

Eternitas points out three much needed solutions for the creation of your last will and testament

Autonomy
Create an immortal coded will and execute it with the help of a decentralized network.
Distribute your assets from the afterlife.

Safety
No single human party is involved in the distribution of your funds and may change or destroy your will.
People get what you want them to get.

Ease of Use
It's quicker, easier and cheaper as no lawyer or notary is needed and the inventory of your assets is already done by yourself.

This is a truly good, useful, and innovative use for blockchain technology.

There will be a TwitterPitch happening on Monday, at 17:00 Berlin, Germany time

that I'm definitely going to attend to find out more about this "virtual will" project. While I know none of us likes to think about our eventual demise, having a painless, low-cost way of making sure our assets are passed on the way WE want them to be distributed is something we should all take a closer look at.

Watch this space for more information, and be sure to attend the TwitterPitch if you can. You never know when that bus bumper will have YOUR name on it!