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On 16 July 2026, ELI Fellows formally approved its Model Rules on Succession and Access to Digital Remains.

As individuals increasingly leave behind extensive digital footprints, including online accounts, cloud storage, crypto-assets, creative works, social media profiles and AI-enabled digital representations, existing legal frameworks have struggled to determine who may inherit, access or manage these digital remains while safeguarding privacy and respecting the wishes of the deceased.

The Model Rules, developed under the leadership of Dr Edina Harbinja and Antoine Eigenmann, introduce an innovative two-regime approach that distinguishes between transferable digital assets, which pass under the ordinary law of succession, and personal digital remains, which are protected through a carefully safeguarded right of access rather than inheritance. They also provide a practical solution for the many ‘mixed cases’ in which economic assets and personal data coexist, establishing a structured process that protects privacy before succession takes place.

By addressing the role of service providers, protecting the rights of third parties, recognising emerging technologies such as AI-generated representations of deceased persons, and integrating seamlessly with the existing framework of European private international law, the Model Rules offer a coherent, future-proof blueprint for legislators, courts, practitioners and digital service providers. Designed for adoption at both national and European levels, they fill a significant gap in European private law by combining legal certainty with respect for autonomy, dignity and privacy in the digital era.