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The Current And Future Of Online Wills

—An interview with Xu Xin, Chairman of Weifa Technology, the first AI will service platform in China

With the deep integration of the Internet, our lives have taken on a new look, and even the traditional and solemn way of making wills has ushered in a digital transformation. Against this background, the "Weifa Will" platform came into being. It not only made netizens shine, but also stimulated the public's strong interest and deep thinking in the new form of wills - online wills. So what is the difference between online wills and traditional wills? Does an online will have legal effect? Recently, the reporter had the honor to invite Mr. Xu Xin, Chairman of Beijing Weifa Technology Co., Ltd., which launched the first AI will service platform in China, to conduct an in-depth analysis and sharing on the current situation of the online will service market, the difference from traditional wills, legal effect, and solutions for Weifa wills.

The Booming Online Will Service Market

Mr. Xu Xin first introduced the current situation of the global online will service market. He pointed out that in recent years, with the arrival of an aging society and the increasing awareness of people's orderly inheritance of heritage, the global online will service market has shown a rapid growth trend. According to the latest data, the global online will service market sales reached US$450 million in 2023, and is expected to grow to US$870 million by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of about 9.5%. In China, although the main will services in China are still provided by offline service providers such as law firms, will service agencies, and government charities, with the promulgation and implementation of the Civil Code, especially the affirmation of the legal effect of printed wills and audio and video wills, coupled with the increasingly perfect legislation and judicial practice of electronic evidence in my country, the trend of online wills has emerged, and companies such as Weifa Wills play an enlightening role in it.

Limitations And Challenges Of Traditional Wills

So what are the benefits of online wills? Speaking of the limitations and challenges of the traditional will service market, Xu Xin said that there are many limitations in the traditional will method, the most important of which are high costs and cumbersome procedures. Traditionally, if a will is made through a lawyer, the cost may be as high as tens of thousands of yuan depending on the property status of the testator. In addition, in order to ensure that the will strictly complies with legal requirements, the law firm will interview the testator many times to understand the situation, and complete the making and filing of the will through strict internal review and control procedures. In addition, if it needs to be modified in the future, the above steps must be done again. "These tasks often consume a lot of manpower costs and the time and energy of the testator without generating the expected value," said Xu Xin. "Many of these tasks are repetitive labor. If they are replaced by online intelligent methods, not only can the service cost be greatly reduced, but also the privacy of the testator can be guaranteed." In addition, there are many inconveniences in the offline storage and inquiry of traditional wills, which brings many troubles to the actual operation of inheritance.

Differences Between Online Wills And Traditional Wills

Functionally, online wills are the same as traditional wills, and both allow you to decide how to distribute assets, said Xu Xin. The key difference between the two lies in the process of creating a will. In recent years, online wills have realized the online generation, storage and query of wills through modern information technology, greatly improving the convenience and efficiency of wills. "Online wills allow you to make a will from start to finish in the comfort of your home," said Xu Xin. "Some people choose online wills because they don't want others to know their assets and distribution wishes, their assets are simple, their distribution wishes are simple, they are in poor health and need to complete the will urgently, and they save costs, etc." Online wills have no human involvement and focus on protecting the privacy and security of users. In contrast, traditional wills require multiple rounds of discussions with the will writer to better understand your situation, the assets and people you want to include in the will, and resolve possible problems and potential disputes in the future. It allows you to write a more comprehensive and tailored will according to your wishes.

Is Online Will Legally Binding?

Regarding the legal validity of online wills, Mr. Xu Xin said that online wills include digital wills and written wills. At present, digital wills are mainly executed by the heirs respecting the wishes of the deceased and self-help voluntarily. According to the Chinese Civil Code, a will can be made through "printed will, handwritten will, notarized will, handwritten will, written will, oral will and recorded will", but the Chinese Civil Code does not clearly stipulate that a will can only be made in the above six forms. Therefore, in certain circumstances, if it can be proved that the will can accurately and completely reflect the true wishes of the testator, the digital will can also be regarded as being made in accordance with the basic principles of the Chinese Civil Code and have legal effect. As for the standards by which a digital will can be determined to accurately and completely reflect the wishes of the testator, there is currently no judicial interpretation or case guidance for this specific situation. In the event of conflicts and disputes resulting in litigation, the presiding judge may need to use his discretion and legal principles to finally determine the legal effect of the specific digital will. In order to avoid possible disputes over the legal effect of digital wills, Weifa Wills has also further launched a written will service, which provides dual guarantees of online AI generation and offline manual review through three steps of professional online generation, offline signing and manual review, ensuring the legality and validity of the written will made by the user.

Is Online Will Suitable For Everyone?

“Not really,” Xu Xin said frankly, “In some cases, the expertise and experience of offline lawyers or estate planners are extremely important. For example, some people need a will trust to protect their estate and prevent the estate from being squandered by the beneficiaries too early. In addition to the will trust, people who have assets in other countries, complex business structures and special family relationships are also recommended to consult professionals through our consulting lawyer platform. Our offline lawyers or estate planners can suggest more options to help you include assets in other countries, create sufficient funds, and avoid family disputes. At the same time, authorize someone or an institution to handle assets on behalf of the testator in case you are temporarily or permanently incapacitated due to illness or accident, and no one manages the assets under your name, and assist in creating other estate planning documents to achieve a safer and more comprehensive solution. "

Different people have different needs, and different tools serve different needs. If your wishes are very simple and your financial situation is not complicated, then using an online will is enough. However, if the situation is relatively complicated, or you are not sure which way of making a will is more suitable for you, the safest thing to do is to consult a professional first. You must make a will according to your personal situation. Don't follow the plans of relatives and friends around you, because even the best friends will have completely different assets and family situations.

What Are The Advantages Of Weifa Will?

Finally, Mr. Xu Xin briefly introduced the advantages of Weifa Will's development history. Weifa Will launched the online digital will service for the first time in China in 2023. With the advent of the AI wave, Weifa Technology has independently developed a will intelligent generation system, which is provided with guidance and review by will legal experts throughout the process. It combines web applications, increasing will legal guides and cases, and AI intelligent generation tools to directly provide C-end users with online and offline professional services required for managing wills. Xu Xin pointed out that Weifa Will's business model has two main characteristics: one is automatic will generation, and the other is a one-stop will platform. Through technological innovation and service optimization, Weifa Will provides users with more complete, professional and efficient online and offline services for making, managing and executing wills. The reporter further learned that the Weifa platform also has the largest digital will library and encrypted query retrieval function in China. In addition, Weifa Wills ensures that users can get timely and effective help during the use process through the cooperation of professional customer service team and external lawyers.

With the continuous advancement of technology and the changes in social structure, the online will service market will usher in a broader development space. As a leader in this field, Weifa Wills will continue to uphold the concept of "technology changes life", continuously innovate and optimize services, and provide more users with convenient, efficient and safe online will services. We believe that under the leadership of Mr. Xu Xin, Weifa Technology will continue to lead the industry forward and contribute more to the cause of estate planning.