Most people have thousands of dollars in digital assets, cryptocurrency, PayPal balances, airline miles, online business accounts, digital photos, and more, and no plan for what happens to them at death. Pennsylvania adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives executors and trustees legal authority to access digital assets, but only if your estate plan is set up correctly. Here is what you need to know.
What Counts as a Digital Asset?
The term "digital assets" covers a broader range than most people realize:
Financial digital assets with clear monetary value:
- Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others)
- PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App balances
- Online brokerage or investment accounts accessed only digitally
- Airline miles, hotel points, and credit card rewards
- Online payment processor accounts (particularly for business owners)
- Domain names and websites with monetized content
Personal digital assets with sentimental or practical value:
- Email accounts and their contents
- Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
- Cloud-stored photos and videos (iCloud, Google Photos)
- Digital music, book, and movie libraries
- Online subscriptions and memberships
Business digital assets:
- E-commerce storefronts (Etsy, Amazon Seller, eBay)
- Digital intellectual property and content libraries
- Business email accounts and client communications
- Software licenses and subscriptions
Pennsylvania's Digital Assets Law
Pennsylvania adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), codified at 20 Pa. C.S. § 3901 et seq. This law establishes a framework for when and how fiduciaries, executors, trustees, agents under a power of attorney, and guardians, can access digital assets.
The law creates a three-tier hierarchy for determining access:
Tier 1 — Online tool: If the account holder used a platform's own legacy or memorialization tool (such as Google's Inactive Account Manager or Facebook's Legacy Contact), that designation controls. These tools allow you to specify what happens to your account directly through the platform.
Tier 2 — Estate planning documents: If no online tool designation exists, the terms of the deceased person's will, trust, or power of attorney control access, but only if those documents explicitly address digital assets. A generic grant of authority to an executor is not sufficient under RUFADAA.
Tier 3 — Platform terms of service: If neither of the above applies, the platform's own terms of service govern access. For most platforms, those terms of service prohibit account access by anyone other than the account holder, effectively locking the executor out.
The practical implication: without explicit language in your estate planning documents granting your executor authority over digital assets, your executor may be legally unable to access accounts that contain valuable or important information.
The Cryptocurrency Problem
Cryptocurrency presents a unique challenge that goes beyond the access issues covered by RUFADAA. Unlike a bank account, cryptocurrency is held on a blockchain and controlled by a private key, a long string of characters that functions as the password to the wallet. If that private key is lost, the cryptocurrency is gone permanently. There is no customer service number to call, no account recovery process, and no way to access the funds without it.
Estimates suggest that a significant percentage of all Bitcoin in existence is permanently inaccessible because private keys were lost when owners died without leaving access information.
What to do: Document your cryptocurrency holdings, the exchanges where accounts are held, the wallet addresses, and the private keys or seed phrases, in a secure location that your executor or a trusted person can access after your death. This information should not be in your will (which becomes a public document when probated) but in a secure document stored with your estate planning attorney, in a fireproof safe, or through a reputable digital estate planning service.
What Your Estate Plan Should Include
A modern Pennsylvania estate plan should explicitly address digital assets in several ways:
In your will or revocable trust: Grant your executor or trustee explicit authority to access, manage, transfer, and terminate digital accounts. Reference RUFADAA by name and include a broad definition of digital assets. Specify whether you want accounts memorialized, deleted, or transferred to a beneficiary.
In your durable power of attorney: Grant your agent explicit authority over digital assets so they can manage accounts during incapacity, not just at death.
In a separate digital asset inventory: Maintain a current list of all significant digital accounts, usernames, and access information. Update it regularly. Store it securely, separate from your publicly filed documents but accessible to your executor.
Use platform tools where available: For Google, Facebook, and Apple accounts, use the platform's own legacy or memorialization tools as a first line of access. These are often the most reliable and fastest path for your executor.
Don't Forget the Sentimental Value
Clients sometimes focus on the financial value of digital assets and overlook the sentimental ones. A lifetime of digital photos stored only in iCloud, years of email correspondence, or a social media account full of memories may be irreplaceable to your family, and completely inaccessible without proper planning.
Make sure your estate plan addresses not just who gets the financial value but who gets to manage or preserve the personal accounts.
At Ament Law Group, our attorneys help clients build estate plans that address the full range of modern assets, including digital ones. If your current estate plan was drafted before digital assets were a common planning consideration, it may be time for a review. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Digital asset laws and platform terms of service change frequently; consult a licensed Pennsylvania estate planning attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
Related resources:
- Estate Planning Services
- How to Create a Will in Pennsylvania
- Living Trusts vs. Wills in Pennsylvania
- PA Estate Planning Hub
- Schedule a Free Consultation
Ready to Protect Your Family?
Estate plans age. Laws change. Whether you need a new plan or a review of what you have, our attorneys help Western PA families get it right — with transparent pricing and a free initial consultation.