Digital Assets in Pennsylvania (20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 39)

Pennsylvania adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), codified at 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3901 to 3918, which governs what happens to your digital property when you die or become incapacitated. Before this law, executors had almost no legal authority to access a decedent's online accounts. Now there is a framework: but it only works if you plan for it.

What Are Digital Assets?

The statute defines "digital asset" broadly as an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest (20 Pa.C.S. § 3902). In practical terms, this includes: email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo), social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), digital photos and videos stored in the cloud (Google Photos, iCloud, Dropbox), cryptocurrency and digital wallets, online banking and investment accounts, domain names and websites, digital music and book libraries (iTunes, Kindle, Audible), online business accounts (PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, eBay seller accounts), loyalty program points with monetary value, and any other electronically stored information with monetary or sentimental value.

RUFADAA distinguishes between the content of a digital asset (the actual emails, messages, photos) and the catalogue of the asset (metadata like sender/recipient, dates, subject lines). This distinction matters because the law provides different levels of access depending on what the account holder authorized.

The Three-Tier Priority System

RUFADAA establishes a clear hierarchy for determining who gets access to digital assets after death or incapacity:

Priority 1: The platform's own tool. If the account holder used the platform's designated legacy or memorialization tool (Google Inactive Account Manager, Facebook Legacy Contact, Apple Digital Legacy), that designation controls. It overrides everything else, including the will.

Priority 2: The estate planning document. If the account holder did not use the platform tool, a provision in a will, trust, or power of attorney that specifically addresses digital assets controls. This is why including a digital assets clause in your estate planning documents matters: without it, the fiduciary has limited access.

Priority 3: The platform's terms of service. If neither a platform tool nor an estate planning document addresses access, the platform's terms of service govern. Most terms of service are restrictive: they prohibit sharing credentials, limit what a fiduciary can access, and in some cases terminate the account upon death.

The takeaway: you need to act at both levels, use each platform's legacy tools where available and include digital assets provisions in your estate planning documents.

The Problem Without Planning

Without authorization, most platforms will not give your executor access to your accounts. Many terms-of-service agreements prohibit sharing login credentials. Federal law: the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030) and the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. § 2701): can make unauthorized access a crime, even by a well-meaning family member trying to access a deceased parent's email.

The practical consequences are significant. Family photos stored only in the cloud may be permanently inaccessible. A small business run through online platforms may lose its customer accounts, inventory listings, and revenue streams. Cryptocurrency holdings without accessible private keys are gone forever: there is no customer service department for a blockchain. Domain names and websites may expire and be purchased by squatters. Digital subscriptions continue billing the decedent's accounts indefinitely.

Cryptocurrency: The Highest-Stakes Digital Asset

Crypto presents unique and irreversible challenges. Unlike a bank account where a court order can compel access, cryptocurrency is controlled entirely by private keys and seed phrases. If these are lost at death, the assets are permanently and irrecoverably gone. There is no institution to petition, no court that can order recovery, and no technical workaround.

If you hold cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, tokens in DeFi protocols, NFTs: your estate plan must address how your executor will access your holdings. This means documenting: which exchanges or wallets hold your assets, whether you use hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) and where they are physically located, your seed phrases and recovery keys (stored securely, not in the will itself), and any multi-signature arrangements that require multiple keys. A power of attorney with digital asset authority is critical for incapacity planning: if you become unable to manage your crypto holdings, your agent needs clear authority and the technical ability to access them.

What You Should Do

Include a digital assets provision in your will or trust that explicitly authorizes your executor or trustee to access, manage, copy, delete, and distribute digital assets. The provision should reference RUFADAA by name and grant the broadest authority permitted under the statute, including access to the content (not just the catalogue) of your accounts.

Use each platform's legacy tools. Google Inactive Account Manager lets you designate up to 10 trusted contacts who receive access after a period of inactivity. Facebook Legacy Contact allows someone to manage your memorialized profile. Apple Digital Legacy lets you add legacy contacts who can request access after your death. Set these up now: they take minutes and they override everything else under RUFADAA.

Maintain a secure digital inventory. List all accounts, platforms, cryptocurrency wallets, and digital assets of value. Include account names and the email address associated with each account. Do not put passwords in your will: the will becomes a public document after probate. Instead, use a password manager with emergency access features (1Password, Bitwarden, and LastPass all offer some form of emergency or family access), or maintain an encrypted file whose access instructions are shared with your executor separately.

Review your power of attorney. A standard POA drafted before RUFADAA may not include digital asset authority. If you become incapacitated, your agent needs explicit authority under the statute to access and manage your digital accounts: especially financial accounts and cryptocurrency.

What Executors Need to Know

If you are serving as executor and need to access a decedent's digital accounts, your authority depends on the three-tier priority described above. Start by checking whether the decedent used any platform legacy tools. Then review the will and any trust for digital asset provisions. If neither exists, you are limited to whatever the platform's terms of service allow: which may be very little.

To request access from a platform, you will typically need: a certified copy of the death certificate, letters testamentary or letters of administration from the Register of Wills, a copy of the will provision authorizing digital asset access (if one exists), and the platform's own request form (most major platforms have a dedicated process for deceased users). Some platforms require a court order even with these documents. An attorney can help obtain one through the Orphans' Court if necessary.

Statutory content on this page was last verified against Pennsylvania statutes (20 Pa.C.S.; 72 P.S. Art. XXI): February 2026. If you are reading this significantly after that date, confirm key provisions with current statute text or contact our office.