The will becomes smart and travels on the blockchain. The new service launched by Lastello, a Roman startup incubated in Lazioinnova.it, simplifies the drafting of the document with the last wishes and offers a new guarantee against any attempts at counterfeiting: the text can in fact be uploaded to the Ethereum network in the form of a token, a process that makes it unique and prevents its modification or elimination. “The signed and dated will will be scanned and uploaded to our platform. At that point the digital copy will be inserted into the blockchain and from that moment on it will constitute an additional proof of the authenticity of the paper document”, he explains. Gianluca Tursi, founder of Lastello.
Inspired by the technology of smart contracts, Tursi decided to develop a service that would make the drafting of the deed more immediate and secure. “If we exclude the more complex cases where a notary is needed, we generally opt for a holographic will: the person writes his last wishes on a piece of paper, signing and putting the date on the document. In this case, in fact, the intervention of the notary is required only for the publication of the will. But not everyone knows how to do it and what the relevant laws are “, he tells us. This is why Lastello offers a service that is divided into two parts: one wizard for the compilation of the document; and the subsequent insertion of the file on an open and distributed digital register that guarantees its uniqueness.
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In fact, it may happen that the will is challenged for invalidity and that there are clashes over the inheritance. In that case it is necessary to prove the authenticity of the document, in different ways. “An example is the calligraphic appraisal”, notes Turisi, who adds: “But the blockchain can also help. Even if the Italian legislation does not currently recognize the token of a holographic will, the inclusion on a shared register of this file allows to certify in an incontrovertible way the date of realization of the deed and the immutability of its content “.
How to create a digital will
On the lastello.it website, a guided procedure, developed by the legal team of the platform, helps the user to fill in the deed, with the insertion of personal information and indications for the distribution of the inheritance. In fact, there are some rules to be respected when drafting a holographic will: “Based on the family situation, by law a percentage of one’s assets is destined for family members; but one can freely dispose of another share of one’s possessions, which can be given to one of the heirs or to a third person outside the family “, underlines the expert. The platform then allows you to nominate the performer and write a message that will be read when the act is opened.
For it to be valid, however, the holographic will must be written in full by hand, and must have a date and signature. The platform then only creates a digital version of the text, which will then have to be copied onto paper. At that point you can decide whether to upload the document on the blockchain: in that case it will first have to be scanned or photographed. “We rely on the notarify.io service, which takes care of validating the will by inserting it on the Ethereum network: the deed thus becomes a token, a time stamp of the file is created”, explains Tursi, adding that notarify.io reproduces then a document with qr code that demonstrates the positive outcome of the whole process.
Overall, the service costs 89 euros and will soon also make it possible to make a video to accompany the document, to have more proof of its authenticity. “For the future we plan to offer this tool also to non-profit organizations, to help them collect their testamentary bequests”, concludes Tursi.
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