Facebook to connect beyond the grave

People may have to start including their Facebook and other social media accounts in their wills if they want family to have access to photographs and mementos after they die.

A legal symposium at the weekend heard that the days of families inheriting boxes of photos and correspondence will soon end, and instead families will be left in legal limbo after the death of loved ones.

Damien McCallig, a PhD student in the school of law at NUI Galway, said it was almost inevitable that people would have to start specifying who should have their Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts after they die. However, legal uncertainty over digital records will extend far beyond sentimental photos.