Have you ever thought about what will happen to your WeChat, QQ, and Toutiao accounts when you leave?
Top V, traffic anchors, who will take away the accounts of their millions or tens of millions of fans?
Can I pass on these accounts to my descendants or designate someone to inherit them?
Here comes the answer:
According to the 2023 White Paper on the China Wills Database, virtual assets such as WeChat, QQ, and game accounts have become important assets for young and middle-aged testators.
Here is a clear definition of what virtual property is and the scope of virtual property
According to the provisions of the Civil Law, all virtual property circulating in the virtual network is virtual property.
Cyber virtual property can be divided into:
The first is online virtual property in online games. This includes accounts (IDs) in online games and accumulated "money", "equipment", "pets" and other "property". The second type is the network virtual property in the virtual community. This includes account numbers, currency, points, user levels, and more in the virtual community. The third type is other virtual property stored in the network. This includes QQ numbers, e-mail addresses and other virtual online assets.
What are the characteristics of virtual property?
One is virtuality. Virtuality is manifested in the fact that it relies on a specific cyberspace and is externalized into a variety of characters, weapons, currency, levels, fans, and other concrete images. Implies dependency on the virtual environment of the network.
The second is the relevance of reality. The network constitutes a virtual world, but the virtual world cannot exist completely apart from the real world, the virtual world needs the support of the material and energy of the real world to survive, and there is a necessary and frequent exchange of information between the virtual world and the real world.
The third is the deadline. Temporality means that the virtual property cannot survive forever. Virtual property depends on the existence of cyberspace, and the network system must have a service period with changes in business conditions, operating costs, market demand and other factors, and no network system can exist forever, so it also determines the duration of virtual property. Unless expressly agreed, netizens' rights to virtual property will be extinguished with the termination of virtual space.
Fourth, disposability and negotiability. Although online virtual property does not have a material form, as long as the holder can dispose of the virtual property according to his own wishes, it has disposable and negotiable properties. In addition, since virtual property is essentially a set of electronic data, network operators can also modify the data to change the virtual property when the system is adjusted, which also illustrates the disposable and negotiable nature of virtual property to a certain extent.
Is there a precedent for making a will for virtual property?
According to the statistics of the white paper, from 2017 to 2023, a total of 488 wills involving virtual property have been received by the China Wills Database. Among them, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have the largest number, accounting for more than 89% of the total. WeChat accounts, QQ, Alipay, game accounts, and diversified virtual currencies have become important assets for people who make wills.
Article 127 of the Civil Code clarifies that data and network virtual property are the legitimate property of citizens. Therefore, as long as the virtual property is the legal property of a citizen, it can be included in the will and disposed of, and the virtual property can be protected by making a will.
What are the procedures and processes for virtual property inheritance and how does it work?
First of all, it is necessary to determine the heirs of the virtual property. The heirs can be parents, spouses, children, etc., or they can be heirs appointed by the will. After the heirs are determined, they need to go to the notary public for inheritance notarization, and the heirs will sign the relevant agreement. Next, the transfer and receipt of virtual property needs to be carried out. The transfer of virtual property needs to be reviewed by the relevant authorities, and after the transfer is confirmed, it needs to be received by the recipient. At the same time, it needs to be registered with the relevant authorities for subsequent management and processing. Finally, according to the results of inheritance notarization and transfer registration, the virtual property is distributed by the relevant authorities. In the distribution process, it is necessary to follow the principles of fairness, justice and reasonableness, and ensure that the rights and interests of each heir are protected.