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

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Terms Used In Utah Code 75-11-115

  • 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 Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Court: means a court with jurisdiction under Title 78A, Judiciary and Judicial Administration. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Custodian: means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • 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 Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Digital asset: means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Estate: includes the property of the decedent, trust, or other person whose affairs are subject to this title as originally constituted and as it exists from time to time during administration. See Utah Code 75-1-201 v2
  • 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 personal representative, conservator, guardian, agent, or trustee. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Information: means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Person: means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or other legal entity. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Principal: means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Property: includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Utah Code 75-1-201 v2
  • Protected person: includes an individual for whom an application for the appointment of a conservator or guardian is pending. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Terms of service agreement: means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Trust: includes :
              (60)(a)(i) a health savings account, as defined in Section 223of the Internal Revenue Code;
              (60)(a)(ii) an express trust, private or charitable, with additions thereto, wherever and however created; or
              (60)(a)(iii) a trust created or determined by judgment or decree under which the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust. See Utah Code 75-1-201 v2
  • User: means a person that has an account with a custodian. See Utah Code 75-11-102
  • Writing: includes :
         (48)(a) printing;
         (48)(b) handwriting; and
         (48)(c) information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable in a perceivable format. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
     (1)(a) the duty of care;
     (1)(b) the duty of loyalty; and
     (1)(c) the duty of confidentiality.
(2) A fiduciary‘s or designated recipient‘s authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:

     (2)(a) except as otherwise provided in Section 75-11-104, is subject to the applicable terms of service;
     (2)(b) is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;
     (2)(c) in the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary’s duties; and
     (2)(d) may not be used to impersonate the user.
(3) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms of service agreement.
(4) 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.
(5) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor:

     (5)(a) has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and
     (5)(b) is an authorized user for the purpose of computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws.
(6) 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.
(7) 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:

     (7)(a) if the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user;
     (7)(b) a certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative, a small estate affidavit, or court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and
     (7)(c) if requested by the custodian:

          (7)(c)(i) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user’s account;
          (7)(c)(ii) evidence linking the account to the user; or
          (7)(c)(iii) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in Subsection (7)(c)(i).