Digital Assets in Pennsylvania Estates: What Executors and Agents Need to Know About RUFADAA

Your parent dies and leaves you as executor of the estate. You need to access their email to notify contacts and locate financial information. You contact Gmail, explain that you’re the executor, and ask for the password. Gmail says no. They have a policy against it. You’re blocked from a crucial digital asset, and there’s nothing you can do.

This scenario plays out regularly, and Pennsylvania law provides an answer, but only if the right language was included in your parent’s estate documents before they died.

RUFADAA: What It Does

Pennsylvania adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) as Act 72 of 2020. It took effect January 19, 2021 and is codified at 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3901 et seq. The statute gives executors, trustees, agents, and guardians a legal framework for accessing digital assets after death or incapacity.

A “digital asset,” under the statute, means an electronic record in which someone has a right or interest. That covers email, social media, cloud storage, cryptocurrency wallets, domain names, online financial accounts, and digital photos, anything stored electronically that has value or importance.

The Three-Tier Priority System

Pennsylvania uses a hierarchy. What controls?

First: User direction through an online tool. Google’s Inactive Account Manager, Facebook’s Legacy Contact feature, and similar platform-specific tools take priority over everything else. If your parent set up a Legacy Contact on Facebook before dying, that person can access the account according to Facebook’s rules.

Second: User direction in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other written instruction. If your parent’s will or trust says “my executor may access my email and social media accounts and take the following steps,” that language controls if no online tool applies.

Third: The custodian’s terms of service. If the digital asset holder hasn’t been given explicit user direction, they can (and usually will) follow their own policy, which typically means refusing access entirely.

The Critical Power of Attorney Problem

Here’s where many people get trapped. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.4, an agent under a power of attorney can access electronic communications and digital assets only if the POA “expressly grants” that authority.

This means a general power of attorney signed before 2021, or even after 2021 if it doesn’t specifically mention digital assets, does not automatically give your agent access to your email, social media, cloud accounts, or cryptocurrency wallets. It doesn’t matter that the POA is broad in other respects. Digital assets require explicit language.

If you signed a POA years ago, there is a real possibility your agent cannot access your digital assets even if they should be able to.

Types of Digital Assets to Consider

Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) are crucial for locating financial information and notifying contacts. Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) may contain personal information or memorialization wishes. Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud) may hold irreplaceable photos, documents, or videos.

Cryptocurrency and digital wallets can represent significant value. Domain names and websites may be ongoing business assets. Loyalty program accounts with monetary value (airline miles, hotel points) can be lost if not accessed quickly. Digital music, book, and media libraries have increasing monetary value and personal importance.

What To Do Now

Review any power of attorney you’ve signed. If it doesn’t specifically authorize digital asset access, update it.

Create or update your will or trust to include specific instructions about digital assets. Name someone you trust to access and manage them. Describe what you want done with different accounts (memorialize, delete, transfer, preserve).

Maintain a digital asset inventory. List your email addresses, social media accounts, online financial accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and other digital assets. Store usernames and recovery information securely (not in the same place as passwords).

Use platform-specific tools where available. Set up a Legacy Contact on Facebook. Configure Google’s Inactive Account Manager. These give your wishes direct effect even before your formal estate documents are opened.

Why This Matters

Digital assets are often overlooked in estate planning because they’re intangible. But they can represent real value, hold irreplaceable information, or require timely action to preserve. An email account unaccessed for too long may be deleted by the platform. A cryptocurrency wallet with no access becomes a lost asset. A social media account without direction may be memorialized, deleted, or left in limbo.

The law now provides a framework to handle all of this, but only if you plan ahead. Without explicit direction, your executor or agent will likely be blocked from access.

If you want to protect your digital assets, call us. We draft the specific language your POA and will need to give your executor and agent actual authority over digital accounts. Ballow & Lynde, 1200 Veterans Highway, Suite B-3, Bristol, PA 19007, (215) 949-0888, lawyermarc.com.

Need help protecting your digital assets in your estate plan? Ballow & Lynde represents clients throughout Bucks County in estate planning and estate administration matters. Schedule a free consultation or call us at 215-949-0888.

Related Practice Areas:

• Estate Planning
• Powers of Attorney: Digital Assets & Agent Oversight
• Digital Assets in Pennsylvania
• Executor Duties & Personal Liability