Fiduciary Duties Apply to Digital Assets; Disclosure to Fiduciaries; Termination of Accounts

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
  4. Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets
  5. Legal Obligations
  6. Fiduciary Duties Apply to Digital Assets; Disclosure to Fiduciaries; Termination of Accounts

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  1. The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including the duty of care, loyalty, and confidentiality.
  2. A fiduciary's or designated recipient's authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:
    1. Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 53-13-10, shall be subject to the applicable terms of service;
    2. Shall be subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;
    3. In the case of a fiduciary, shall be limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties; and
    4. May not be used to impersonate the user.
  3. A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor has or had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement.
  4. A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties shall be an authorized user of the property of the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor for the purpose of liability under applicable computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including Article 6 of Chapter 9 of Title 16.
  5. A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor shall:
    1. Have the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and
    2. Be an authorized user for the purpose of computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including Article 6 of Chapter 9 of Title 16.
  6. 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.
  7. A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user's account. A request for termination shall be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by:
    1. If the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user;
    2. A certified copy of the letters testamentary, letters of administration, or other letters of appointment of the personal representative, court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and
    3. If requested by the custodian:
      1. A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user's account;
      2. Evidence linking the account to the user; or
      3. A finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(Code 1981, §53-13-30, enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 1089, § 1/SB 301.)

Law reviews.

- For annual survey on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 275 (2018).


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