Florida Passes Digital Account Access Bill

A hot topic of conversation among members of the estate planning community has been the difficultly in accessing the digital assets of an individual after their death or incapacitation. Until now, it has been a hodgepodge of agreements and terms of service that has controlled access with a some companies being receptive to estate representatives gaining control over an account while others have barred access across the board. But Florida has become a leader in states adopting legislation that would set out rules concerning digital access by others. The bill, which passed unanimously by both houses, will allow the appointment of an individual who would be able to access basically all digital assets be they financial to email to social media. The appointed individual can be anyone the account holder wishes and is not restricted to family members or lawyers. Hopefully other states will take heed and pass legislation of their own so that some certainty can be had over the fate of online assets after a person dies.

See Jim Rosica, LEGISLATURE OKS DIGITAL ASSETS MEASURE, Florida Politics, February 24, 2016.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.