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Probate Code § 880

‹ § 879.3§ 881Open in browserleginfo ↗

880.

(a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including all of the following:

(1) The duty of care.

(2) The duty of loyalty.

(3) The duty of confidentiality.

(b) All of the following shall apply to a fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 873, a fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority is subject to the applicable terms-of-service agreement.

(2) A fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law.

(3) A fiduciary’s authority is limited by the scope of the fiduciary’s duties.

(4) A fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority may not be used to impersonate the user.

(c) (1) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent or settlor has the right of access to any digital asset in which the decedent or settlor had a right or interest that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement.

(2) This subdivision does not require a custodian to share passwords or decrypt protected devices.

(d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary’s duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, conservatee, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws.

(e) The following shall apply to a fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, conservatee, principal, or settlor:

(1) (A) The fiduciary has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it.

(B) This subdivision does not require a custodian to share passwords or decrypt protected devices.

(2) The fiduciary is an authorized user for purposes of any applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws.

(f) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user if the information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user.

(g) A fiduciary of a user, or an affiant acting under Section 13101 with respect to a deceased user, may request a custodian to terminate the user’s account. A request for termination shall be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by all of the following:

(1) (A) If the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user.

(B) If the user is a conservatee, a court order authorizing the conservator to request termination of the user’s account.

(2) A certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative, a small-estate affidavit under Section 13101, a court order, a power of attorney, a certified copy of the trust instrument, or a certification of the trust under Section 18100.5 giving the fiduciary authority over the account.

(3) If requested by the custodian, any of the following:

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

(B) Evidence linking the account to the user.

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

(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 799, Sec. 6. (SB 1458) Effective January 1, 2025.)