Although numerous states have studied and introduced legislation adopting the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Accounts Act, only three have adopted it thus far. The first was Delaware, which adopted the model digital assets law on August 12, 2015, effective January 1, 2015. Oregon became the second state to adopt the uniform law, when the Governor signed the SB 1554A, the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Accounts Act on March 2, 2016, effective January 1, 2017. And finally, the Governor of Wyoming signed its version of the Model Act on March 7, 2016, making it the third state to adopt the Model Act.
The model act basically allows heirs and personal representatives of deceased individuals to have access to digital accounts left behind. It streamlines the ability of the executor and personal representative to gather the digital assets and get access to them to administer the estate. Providing a list of digital assets and the ability to access the digital assets is an important part of estate planning, and the model laws in these states will streamline the recovery of digital assets of deceased individuals in those states. Other states are considering adopting the model law, and we anticipate seeing the passage of other state laws in this area.