- Does Pennsylvania follow the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act?
- Yes. Pennsylvania enacted RUFADAA as Act 72 of 2020, codified at 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 39. It gives executors, trustees, agents under a power of attorney, and guardians a legal pathway to a decedent's digital assets, and it sets a clear priority order: an online tool provided by the platform, such as Google's Inactive Account Manager or Facebook's legacy contact, controls first; a will, trust, or power of attorney controls next; and the provider's terms of service control only if neither of the first two addresses the account.
- Can my executor access my email, social media, and crypto without the passwords?
- Sometimes, and the distinction matters. Under Chapter 39 a custodian must disclose the catalogue of electronic communications — who you corresponded with and when — to a fiduciary with proper authority, but it must disclose the actual content of your emails and messages only if you expressly consented through an online tool or in your will, trust, or POA. Cryptocurrency in self-custody is different from all of it: no company holds the keys, so a wallet whose seed phrase dies with you is gone permanently regardless of what the statute says.
- Should digital assets be listed in the will or in a separate memo?
- Grant the authority in the will, trust, and power of attorney — with express language consenting to disclosure of content — and keep the inventory outside those documents. A will filed with the Register of Wills becomes a public record, so account numbers, usernames, and anything resembling a credential must never appear in it. Use a referenced separate memorandum or an encrypted password manager with emergency access, and update it as accounts change.
- Which digital assets actually need planning?
- Anything with financial value, sentimental value, or an ongoing obligation. That includes cryptocurrency and exchange accounts, domain names, monetized YouTube or Substack channels, e-commerce storefronts and seller accounts, business software and cloud infrastructure, loyalty and airline points, photo libraries, and subscriptions that keep charging the estate. Most licensed content — streaming libraries and ebooks — is non-transferable by contract, and closing those accounts promptly is the whole task.
- What should I do about digital assets right now?
- Three things. Set the online legacy tools where they exist, because they override your will under Chapter 39 — Google's Inactive Account Manager, Apple's Legacy Contact, and Facebook's legacy contact take ten minutes combined. Make sure your will, trust, and power of attorney all include express RUFADAA consent language, since a pre-2020 document almost certainly does not. Then build an inventory in a password manager with an emergency access contact, and write down the recovery method for any self-custodied crypto in a way one trusted person can actually follow.