Ohio Code 2137.14 – Fiduciary duty and authority
(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:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2137.14
- Account: means an arrangement under a terms-of-service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Agent: means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated as agent, attorney in fact, or otherwise. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Court: means the probate court for all matters in which the court has exclusive jurisdiction under section 2101. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Custodian: means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Designated recipient: means a person chosen by a user using an online tool to administer digital assets of the user. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Digital asset: means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Fiduciary: means an original, additional, or successor agent, guardian, personal representative, or trustee. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- guardian: includes , but is not limited to, a limited guardian, an interim guardian, a standby guardian, and an emergency guardian appointed pursuant to division (B) of section 2111. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Information: means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Personal representative: means an executor, administrator, special administrator, or other person acting under the authority of the probate court to perform substantially the same function under the law of this state. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Principal: means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Terms-of-service agreement: means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- User: means a person that has an account with a custodian. See Ohio Code 2137.01
- Ward: includes a person for whom a conservator has been appointed by the probate court in an order of conservatorship issued pursuant to section 2111. See Ohio Code 2137.01
(1) The duty of care;
(2) The duty of loyalty;
(3) The duty of confidentiality.
(B) All of the following 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 2137.03 of the Revised Code, it is subject to the applicable terms of service.
(2) It is subject to other applicable laws, including copyright law.
(3) In the case of a fiduciary, it is limited by the scope of the fiduciary’s duties.
(4) It may not be used to impersonate the user.
(C) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and 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, ward, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including section 2913.04 of the Revised Code.
(E) Both of the following apply to a fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor:
(1) The fiduciary has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it.
(2) The fiduciary is an authorized user for the purpose of computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws, including section 2913.04 of the Revised Code.
(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 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) If the user is deceased, a copy of the death certificate of the user;
(2) A copy of the instrument giving the fiduciary authority over the account, as follows:
(a) For a personal representative, a copy of the letter of appointment of the personal representative, the entry appointing a commissioner under division (E) of section 2113.03 of the R evised Code, or the entry granting summary release from administration under division (E) of section 2113.031 of the Revised Code;
(b) For an agent, a copy of the power of attorney;
(c) For a trustee, either a copy of the trust instrument and a certification by the trustee, under penalty of perjury, that the trust exists and the trustee is a currently acting trustee of the trust or a certification of the trust under section 5810.13 of the Revised Code; or
(d) For a guardian, a copy of the court order giving the guardian authority over the ward.
(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 division (G)(3)(a) of this section.