When a deceased person’s relative cannot access digital assets, proprietary estoppel may be an alternative. However, due to the ambiguity of the law in this field and the absence of case law, it’s important to understand and consider the administration of your digital assets before passing away.
What would I need to do?
You would have to prove that you were misled into believing that the deceased would give you the digital assets upon their death and that you depended on this promise or guarantee for this to be successful.
If you thought you would receive the digital assets upon the dead’s death, and neither you nor the deceased attempted to transfer the assets before they passed away, it would be a detriment. It is then your responsibility to prove why breaking that pledge would be unacceptable for the deceased.
How does Proprietary Estoppel work?
Although the courts will generally respect the parties’ expectations, if the parties are unclear about what they want, the court will begin by considering the harm that the parties have caused to each other. Therefore, proprietary estoppel claims do not always result in the property transfer to the claimant.
What is an example of Proprietary Estoppel?
Proprietary estoppel, a legal concept of great import, arises when one party pledges to grant another party property or an interest in property, but fails to do so effectively.
This occurs despite the first party’s knowledge that the second party will engage in actions that are detrimental, such as spending money, or that the second party’s actions will be based on the anticipated or promised gift, to the extent that it would be ‘unconscionable’ to enforce the expectation.