Digital testament

challenges and possibilities in brazilian law

Abstract

The technological advances of recent decades caused people to change their habits and customs, and with the legal system it was not different. With regard to the succession provided for in the Civil Code, more specifically with regard to testamentary forms, these were arranged in accordance with the technological age, and the way in which people were living in their time, which is very much from the current reality, in need of adjustments. Therefore, this research aims to verify the possibility of including the digital will (Testament) as a valid form of will among those legally provided. For this purpose, the deductive method is used, which is based on the premise that the digital will, from technological advances should be used and allowed in a general and not exceptional way. An example of progress is Provision N. 100 of May 26, 2020 of the National Council of Justice, which was created due to the pandemic caused by Sars-CoV-2, which gave the impossibility of face-to-face acts, brought the need for alternatives for the performance of many acts, in this case the will (Testament). Thus, it is concluded that despite the impossibility of using the will in the digital format, the legal system needs to move along with technological advances, in order to meet the manifestation of will and new ways of externalizing it.