13-A-4.1 Fiduciary duty and authority(a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including:
(1) the duty of care;
(2) the duty of loyalty; and
(3) the duty of confidentiality.
(b) A fiduciary's or designated recipient's authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:
(1) except as otherwise provided in section 13-A-2.2, is subject to the applicable terms of service;
(2) is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;
(3) in the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties; and
(4) may not be used to impersonate the user.
(c) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement.
(d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including this state's law on unauthorized computer access.
(e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor;
(1) has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and
(2) is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including this state's law on unauthorized computer access.
(f) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user when the information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user.
(g) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user's account. A request for termination must be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by:
(1) if the user is deceased, a copy of the death certificate of the user;
(2) a certified copy of the letter of appointment of the executor, administrator, or personal representative or a small-estate affidavit or court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and
(3) if requested by the custodian:
(A) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user's account;
(B) evidence linking the account to the user; or
(C) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in item (A).
Last modified: February 3, 2019