Preparing for death is a fact of life that most people put off while they are young and healthy.
It is hard enough to face the need for a will, much less to plan a detailed settlement of journals, documents and photos, or to write letters to loved ones or an autobiography for descendants.
Would it be easier if it were all an online multimedia file?
Some people keep essays, histories and video on individual or family Web sites, while many others already store legal and financial documents on computers.
Now four Japanese inventors want to refine those activities with patented software that manages wills and other legacies on a computer network server.
Anyone interested in storing a will and organizing a bequest would simply sign up for the service and then use their own computer to enter their personal information.
There would be a charge for storing and maintaining the file.
The patent says the program permits a person to include ``a death notice of his/her own, a last will and testament, gratitude to those who extended assistance, a round-up of his/her own life, reflection, repentance, confession of his/her own life, publication of his/her posthumous works, such as diary, essays, photographs, and so on, and messages to the next generations.''
They could also include audio and video, ``since the system accommodates so-called multimedia information,'' the inventors say.
``Needless to say, the deposited information is subjected to strict encryption,'' the inventors write in their patent. There would also be a so-called fire wall around the database to prevent anyone from using the Internet to gain access to it without authorization.
The service would follow ``in the event of my death'' instructions to automatically notify chosen survivors and forward material from the file to them. To set that up, the deceased would have followed prompts to provide information that identifies the survivors, like pictures or a description. The deceased would also leave instructions on who should receive which parts of the file. The patent, for example, says the person would dictate ``the range of disclosure specified for each recipient, disclosure conditions specified for each recipient, the time of disclosure specified for each recipient, and the method of disclosure -- mail, courier service, disclosure via electronic media, broadcast, and so on.''
The inventors specify that the file can be unsealed only ``after the depositor has died,'' has become brain dead ``or has been taken with a senile dementia.''
Death or incapacitation would be proved with a ``genuine death notice issued by an official agency or a death certificate issued by a doctor,'' the patent says. Also, if the author does not enter the file for a long period, ``an alarm is issued and a confirming and checking function is initiated to check his/her health or whereabouts.'' In establishing the file, the author would provide identifying information relevant to himself.
The inventors say this might include ``fingerprint, voice print or retina print, or using a combination of an insurance card, cash card or electronic medical record, and an autograph or password.'' The user would receive an electronic key so he could get back into the file later to change his will or rewrite other documents.
People who signed up for the service could also receive access to a reference library to help them prepare their documents, and a ``privileged e-mail legal service'' where they could receive advice from lawyers.
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