Proposed Law on Digital Assets

So far, companies have largely maintained control over who should be granted access to digital accounts once someone dies.  But a proposed law by the Uniform Law Commission could swing control in families’ favor.

The recently drafted “Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (FADA)” would grant fiduciaries broad authority to access, and control, digital assets.  The Commission will vote on this proposed law in July.  Many estate lawyers hope states will widely adopt this model law.  Currently, seven states have enacted their own laws while fourteen have proposed legislation.

See Maeve Duggan, Proposed Law Would Clarify Who Gets Access to a Deceased Person’s Digital Accounts, Pew Research Center, May 6, 2014.

Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.