Question - how much of their past life and to what detail to they end up remembering - e.g. is just vague recollections or are they going to remember passwords, account numbers etc.

@TheDemonLord a first generation reincarnation will probably remember passwords, skills and many other details of their previous incarnation. Things get fuzzier the more reincarnations intervene, and after ten incarnations, only major points are remembered.

But the 10th would remember memories generated in the 9th though, yes?

Isn't this the main functionality provided by numbered accounts? (For a famous example, this is how Robert Ludlum's freshly revived Jason Bourne was able to access his millions.)

@Escapeddentalpatient. The most recent past life is a first generation slightly lossy copy. The previous past lives are copies of copies... with compounded losses.

@AlexP An incarnation several generations out might not remember an account number (it would be in their bank book), but would probably remember their name, address and what bank they used, and other important details of their life.

So to make it clear: they have no proof that they are descended from the person who deposited money in the account, and they do not have the numeric password to the account. I would say that they have no right to the money in the account. Whatever claims they make to be the reincarnation of Emperor Napoleon of the French are just delusions with zero support in reality.

@AlexP People often don't remember strings of numbers unless they are used frequently. That's not to say that they couldn't use something specific, but more easily remembered, such as a passphrase and answers to personal questions.

For example, I remember XKCD's Correct Horse Battery Staple, and it's not even my passphrase!

@MontyWild - I get the whole copy of a copy element - the problem is that the Memory and experience of Person 2 are not a Copy, that is new data. so when that is copied, you would not have the same error rate (due to compounding errors) from the memories of Person 1 - So if you could confirm on this point - cause otherwise yeah - it breaks a whole bunch of things.

Given the range of inheritance systems in a world without reincarnation, what makes you think that this question has a specific enough answer to not just be brainstorming and asking us to generate ideas for you?

@TheDemonLord Hence my question about laws and procedures about inheritance by reincarnations.

@sphennings To inherit a bequest to a reincarnation, you would have to know that it exists, where it was made and by whom it was made at the very least, and it may have been made with the assistance of a solicitor. The rest is a question of what procedures and laws about this sort of inheritance are necessary and reasonable.

The funny thing about this is that unless you're talking about the recent discovery of reincarnation, legal procedures protecting the new incarnation would be old law well precedented (a lot like corporate law today) with various legal attacks by greedy shareholders trying to breech the proverbial corporate shield. The only real problem you'd have is probate, which wants desperately to believe reincarnation doesn't exist.

" The only real problem you'd have is probate, which wants desperately to believe reincarnation doesn't exist. " I'm not so sure. If there's people that benefited from an inheritance from a previous reincarnation then they'd want any established protections for this inheritance kept in place for their next reincarnation.

@JBH As stated in the question, reincarnation began millenia ago. Any laws and procedures around reincarnation inheritance have to have been around for a long time, and should have been discussed and revised extensively until they are acceptable to everyone. They'd be as much tradition as law.

Idea generation has always been prohibited on this site. We only removed it as an explicit close reason because it was decided that the existing too broad and POB close reasons already covered it. At no point did we change our policy around prohibiting questions just fishing for ideas. How about instead of asking for us to build your world for you you ask us for help resolving a specific problem you have with your attempt. It's the same reason SO doesn't answer questions asking how do I program X. You can answer it "objectively" but such a question has to many valid answers to be a good fit.

I'm not seeing how the identification issue is any different to internet/telephone banking, or earlier some aspects of private banking, using an account number/password for identification. The issue of successive reincarnations is irrelevant as long as the previous incarnation does something to reinforce the memory of the bank details.

You can have any set of laws you want. Whether they are necessary and reasonable seems like an entirely subjective assessment. There are many ways to skin this cat and questions with many equally valid answers are not suitable for this site.

@sphennings No, this world can't have 'any set of laws you want'. It can only have laws that most people there would find reasonable, otherwise they would have been changed long since. Basically, if SE users wouldn't find the laws to be reasonable, then they're not reasonable.

@Mohirl Then suggest protocols for what could be used to identify a reincarnation, and how to ensure that it's remembered in a subsequent incarnation.

@MontyWild I fundamentally disagree with your assessment that all laws are ones that most people find reasonable. Even if you do limit the scope of answered from the set of all possible laws, to the set of all possible laws that SE users are likely to find reasonable you still have a question with many equally valid answers.

If you had a question about proving reincarnation, something more scope limited than "how does someone prove it?" try asking about that.

With that solved then whatever legal mechanism for authorizing the transfer of assets your society uses can step in to transfer ownership of the estate.

@sphennings You have a point... I'll edit the question to focus on the identification issue.