So many aspects of our lives are managed online over multiple accounts. As a result, state laws have had to catch up with how we oversee our online accounts in life and after death.
What is The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA)?
RUFADAA is a law that provides the Executor of an Estate, or an attorney, with access to someone's online accounts after death or incapacitation. Developed by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), RUFADAA extends the power traditionally given to the Executor of an Estate or a Trustee when managing someone's tangible assets to include their digital assets as well.
Here at Trust & Will, we've demystified RUFADAA and what it means for digital asset management. For information on how to create your own digital Estate Plan, we've got that covered, too.
Managing Digital Assets Under RUFADAA
RUFADAA is the revised version of UFADAA that sought to give Estate Executors and Trustees the same access to an online account as the owner in the event of their death or incapacitation. Critics of the law made the case that the law went too far and that there weren't enough protections in place, and they won that argument, leading to the passing of RUFADAA.
The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act only gives an Executor of Trustee access to the content of electronic communications, including emails, chats, and DMs, if the Decedent explicitly consented.
The businesses that make, store, or provide digital assets, like Google and Facebook, are known under RUFADAA as Custodians. To limit their role in the settlement of an Estate, Custodians may request court orders before turning over access to an account. They may also only provide access to "reasonably necessary" information for settling an Estate. Custodians cannot provide access to deleted assets or joint accounts.
RUFADAA provides a basic framework for how the state and an Executor, Fiduciary, or attorney should manage someone's digital assets after death or incapacitation. A hierarchy of protocols provides clear instructions for how one could go about managing or closing someone's online accounts:
Online Tools
Online tools like Google's Inactive Account Manager and Facebook's Legacy Contact let users decide what should happen to their account after death or long periods of inactivity. When tools like this are present, RUFADAA dictates that they have priority over all other instructions, including a website's Terms of Service.
Google's Inactive Account Manager allows Google users to designate a Trusted Contact who would gain access to an account after a certain period of inactivity. A user may also choose to have information permanently deleted. Google detects inactivity by your last sign-ins, recent activity, usage of Gmail on the web or in-app, and Android check-ins.
Facebook's Legacy Contact allows a user to designate someone they trust to manage their account after death. While not given full access to the account, a Legacy Contact can write a pinned post for someone's profile and update their profile and cover photos. They can also request the removal of a user's account. A Legacy Contact cannot read a user's private messages or remove past posts or friends.
Legal Documents
If a Custodian does not offer an online tool, RUFADAA states that the next course of action is to look to the legal documents. This can be a Will, Trust, or Power of Attorney. A person's digital Estate Plan can grant an Executor or Fiduciary access to one or more specific accounts. A digital Estate Plan can also restrict access to someone's online accounts.
Terms of Service Agreements
If someone has left no information about accessing their online accounts, either through an online tool or digital Estate Plan, a Custodian's Terms of Service will dictate a Fiduciary's access to a user's digital asset. You might see how this could bring up issues if you can remember the last time you read a website's Terms of Service. Exactly.
For instance, Verizon and all of their child companies, including Yahoo!, dictate that all accounts are non-transferable and terminate upon a user's death. If left to the Terms of Service agreement, your family and loved ones could prematurely lose access to crucial information needed to settle your Estate.
RUFADAA Laws by State
Most states enacted RUFADAA as a means of directing how to manage someone's digital assets after their death. Under RUFADAA, a Decedent's Executor or Trustee can access and manage an Estate's digital assets and electronic communications. The definition of what qualifies as a digital asset or electronic communication depends on your state.
If your state passed a RUFADAA law, you will find it below:
Alabama
HB 138 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2018
Alaska
HB 108 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective October 31, 2017
Arizona
SB 1413 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective May 11, 2016
Arkansas
HB2253 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective April 4, 2017
California
AB-691 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective September 24, 2016
Colorado
SB 16-088 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective April 7, 2016
Connecticut
SB 262 Public Act No. 05-136, effective October 1, 2005
Delaware
HB 345 Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets and Digital Accounts, effective August 12, 2014
Florida
SB 494, Chapter 740 Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2016
Georgia
SB 301 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2018
Hawaii
SB2298 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2016
Idaho
SB 1303 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2016
Illinois
HB 4648 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective August 12, 2016
Indiana
SB 253 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective March 23, 2016
Iowa
SF 333 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective April 20, 2017
Kansas
SB 63 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2017
Kentucky
HB 156 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 15, 2020
Louisiana
No legislation
Maine
LD 846 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2018
Maryland
SB239/HB507 Maryland Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective October 1, 2016
Massachusetts
HD 3489 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2020
Michigan
HB 5034 The Fiduciary Access To Digital Assets Act, effective June 27, 2016
Minnesota
Minnesota Statutes Chapter 521A Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective August 1, 2016
Mississippi
HB 489 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2017
Missouri
HB 1250 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective August 28, 2018
Montana
SB 118 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective October 1, 2017
Nebraska
LB 829 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2017
Nevada
SB 131, effective October 1, 2013
New Hampshire
SB 147 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective June 27, 2019
New Jersey
AB 3433 Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective September 17, 2017
New Mexico
SB 60 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2018
New York
AB A9910A, effective September 29, 2016
North Carolina
SB 805 Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets, effective June 30, 2016
North Dakota
HB 1214, effective March 30, 2017
Ohio
HB 432 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective April 6, 2017
Oklahoma
HB 2800, effective November 1, 2010
Oregon
SB 1554 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2017
Pennsylvania
SB 320 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries), effective July 23, 2020
Rhode Island
HB 5778, effective July 15, 2019
South Carolina
SB 908 South Carolina Uniform Fiduciary Access To Digital Assets Act, effective June 3, 2016
South Dakota
HB1080 Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2017
Tennessee
SB 326 Uniform Fiduciary Access To Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2016
Texas
SB 1193 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective September 1, 2017
Utah
HB 13 Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective May 9, 2017
Vermont
HB 152 (Act 13) Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2017
Virginia
HB 1608, effective February 17, 2017
Washington
SB 5029 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective June 9, 2016
Washington, D.C.
Council Bill 230141, Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act of 2019, effective January 13, 2021
West Virginia
SB 102 Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective June 5, 2018
Wisconsin
AB 695 Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective April 1, 2016
Wyoming
SF0034 Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective July 1, 2016
Creating Your Digital Estate Plan
The average online user can have up to 100 different passwords to remember, sometimes more. That's a lot of accounts to keep track of. While you may have a system for managing your most important online accounts, have you thought of what will happen to them in the event of your death?
You should have a clear (and legally binding) plan for your digital assets, even if your state has passed a version of RUFADAA. If you want the Executor of your Estate, Beneficiary, or attorney to access your online accounts, designate that in your Will.
A comprehensive digital Estate Plan will include a full inventory of your digital assets, along with information on how to access those accounts. That doesn't just mean your email and social media accounts. While those may be the most frequented, digital assets also include:
Photos, digital music, and files on your computer, owned by you
Monthly subscriptions, like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify
Website domains
Blogs and all of their written content
Frequent flyer miles (depending on the airline)
Tax and financial software
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
Trust & Will, the leading experts in online Estate Planning, makes it easy to generate an inventory of your digital assets and designate what should happen to them upon your death. When you create a Will online, you can rest assured that by protecting your digital assets, you are protecting your Estate, your family, and your Beneficiaries. Get started today!
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