Date:  02 September 2026 (Wednesday)   Time: 9:30am–12:45pm   Language: English  Level: Elementary

Speaker:          Stephen Gallagher, Professor of Practice in Law, Associate Dean (Academic & Student Affairs), the  Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lawyer CPD / ACCA CPD / SFC CPT / Insurers’ CPD Pts:  3 points                 Fee: HK$1,800

Highlights: 

Lawyers are already engaging with digital property. For those assisting in estate planning and/or dealing with estates involving digital property, there have already been high-profile issues. These can involve issues in identifying, recovering and assigning digital property. This three-hour seminar will consider those issues. The first part of the seminar will consider issues that arise in estate planning involving digital property. This includes identifying digital property and considering the characteristics of various forms of digital property, including virtual property and crypto-property (including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)). This part will also consider the problems with transferring ownership or control of digital property and recovering digital property. The second part of the seminar will consider the use of artificial intelligence to assist in drafting wills and the possible issues that may arise. The concluding part of the seminar will consider if we may use digital wills in Hong Kong, if they would be valid under existing Hong Kong law and if the law should be changed ensure digital wills will be valid. The seminar will conclude by considering some notable cases that have been decided on these issues. some of the topics which will be covered in this course include:

  • What is electronic digital technology?
  • What are digital assets and digital property?  Is digital property really property?
  • General issues with digital assets and property; Who owns your digital music collection?
  • Who owns your social media? What is blockchain? What are cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens?
  • Why probate practitioners should care about digital assets; Transferrable and non-transferrable digital assets;
  • Can ChatGPT assist in drafting a will?
  • What issues may arise when using artificial intelligence to draft wills?
  • What are digital wills and are they valid and enforceable?
  • The future including digital wills; Challenges in estate planning.

 

 

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Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher, Professor of Practice in Law, Associate Dean (Academic & Student Affairs), the Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Steven Gallagher was awarded a first class LL.B. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2006. Steven teaches the equity and trusts courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Steven also teaches a course on art, antiquities, cultural heritage and the law on the LLM programme. Steven has presented continuing professional development courses for solicitors in Hong Kong on many topics associated with equity. Steven’s research interests include equity and the law of trusts, cultural heritage law and legal history. In September 2021, Steven published the book, “Protecting Built Heritage in Hong Kong: what heritage and what protection?”