DIGITAL INHERITANCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BRAZILIAN INHERITANCE LAW

Abstract

Digital inheritance refers to the digital assets and online presence that a person leaves behind after their death. This may include social media accounts, email accounts, photos, videos, documents, and other types of data stored online. Due to its constant use, there has been debate about its legal effects. Given this scenario, this study aimed to discuss digital inheritance from the perspective of Brazilian Inheritance Law. The methodology was based on a literature review, based on scientific articles, books, periodicals, current legislation, and case law on the subject. Data collection will be carried out through databases such as Scielo, Google Scholar, among others, from 2018 to 2023. The results showed that in Brazil, physical assets are divided with the surviving spouse, depending on the marital regime, and shared among the heirs. However, digital assets still do not have regulation. The lack of a regulatory standard on digital inheritance has several legal consequences. For example, there is a discussion about the participation of digital platforms themselves in the succession process. Application providers could apply their terms of use, which generally define that profile data belongs to the social network itself, even after the death of the profile owner. However, there is no consensus on this within case law and legal doctrine, which leaves the discussion of this topic open.