IC 32-39-2-12 : Duties and authority of fiduciary with respect to digital assets of decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor

Sec. 12. (a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property, including:

(1) the duty of care;

(2) the duty of loyalty; and

(3) the duty of confidentiality;

also apply to a fiduciary charged with managing digital assets.

(b) A fiduciary's or designated recipient's authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:

(1) except as otherwise provided in section 1 of this chapter, is subject to the applicable terms of service;

(2) is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;

(3) is limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties; and

(4) may not be used to impersonate the user.

(c) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset:

(1) in which the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor had a right or interest; and

(2) that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement.

(d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including IC 24-4.8-2, IC 24-5-22, IC 35-43-1-7, IC 35-43-1-8, IC 35-43-2-3, and IC 35-45-13.

(e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor:

(1) has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in the property; and

(2) is an authorized user for the purpose of computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including IC 24-4.8-2, IC 24-5-22, IC 35-43-2-3, and IC 35-45-13.

(f) 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.

(g) A fiduciary of a user may request that a custodian terminate the user's account. A request for termination must be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and must be accompanied by:

(1) if the user is deceased, a certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate of the user;

(2) a copy of:

(A) the letters (as defined in IC 29-1-1-3(a)(21)) of the personal representative or of the order of no supervision or order of unsupervised administration issued to the personal representative under IC 29-1-7.5;

(B) the court order;

(D) the trust;

giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and

(3) if requested by the custodian:

(A) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber identifier or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user's account;

(B) evidence linking the account to the user; or

(C) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in clause (A).

As added by P.L.137-2016, SEC.14. Amended by P.L.163-2018, SEC.25; P.L.185-2021, SEC.57.