One of the major issues to emerge in estate planning over the last few years is access to digital accounts by heirs or executors after death or incapacitation of the owner. Currently, the terms of service dictate access to an account with no one policy being dominant as some services allowing complete access under certain circumstances to sites that refuse access to anyone but the owner. But Oregon and Wyoming have joined a handful of other states in adopting legislation that will dictate who can access and control digital assets. The two states passed a version of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Accounts Act which makes it easier for estate administrators to gain access to online assets even when no instructions were left behind. However, additional planning is required by providing a list of assets since, even in those states that have passed fiduciary access laws, a planner needs to know what accounts exist before they can even seek to gain control. As digital assets proliferate, this is an issue that will only grow in importance so always make sure that a client understands the steps that need to be taken to protect their online property.
See Linn Foster Freedman, Oregon and Wyoming enact model digital assets law, Data Privacy and Security Insider, March 9, 2016.
