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Subject:Re: Paper(less) From:Richard Lippincott <rlippinc -at- BEV -dot- ETN -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 30 Jan 1995 08:33:21 EST
>BTW, electronic documents _usually_ leave a timestamp every time they
>are modified (legally or not).
That timestamp doesn't hold up in court. At least not in Texas probate court.
Some months back, the fiancee of a close friend passed away. He'd made a will,
and left her everything. He didn't go to a lawyer, he used one of those
software packages, and made his own will.
He didn't print it out. (Did I just hear -everyone- groan? Including the
advocates of paperless society?)
She took the files to an attorney, who said they were worthless. She pointed
out that the date and time stamp on the files indicated they were clearly
completed before he died.
The lawyer pointed out that it's really, really easy to change the internal
date in a computer. A date and time stamp on a file proves nothing.
She got nothing.
Rick Lippincott
Eaton Semiconductor
Beverly, MA
rlippinc -at- bev -dot- etn -dot- com
