Estate Planning Guide

Digital Assets and Your Digital Executor in Florida

Email, cloud storage, social media, online banking, and cryptocurrency are part of nearly every estate now, but Florida law only gives your fiduciary access to them if you've planned for it correctly.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

A digital asset is any electronic record you have a right or interest in. That covers far more than most people initially think of: email accounts, cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud, social media and photo-sharing accounts, online banking and brokerage accounts, domain names and websites, digital business records, subscription and loyalty accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets. Some of these hold real financial value; others hold sentimental or practical value, like family photos or an email account that serves as the recovery address for everything else you own online.

Florida's Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act

Florida adopted its own version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, codified as Chapter 740 of the Florida Statutes. It gives four types of fiduciaries, personal representatives, trustees, court-appointed guardians, and agents under a power of attorney, a legal framework for managing a person's digital assets the same way they'd manage tangible property. But Chapter 740 draws a sharp line between two categories of access: a catalog of electronic communications, essentially a log of who you communicated with and when, and the content of those communications, the actual substance of your emails and messages. Getting the catalog is relatively easy. Getting the content requires more.

The Three-Tier Priority System

Under Fla. Stat. § 740.003, Florida law recognizes a clear order of priority for what controls disclosure. First, if you used a custodian's own online tool, like Google's Inactive Account Manager or Meta's Legacy Contact, to give instructions, those instructions control above everything else. Second, if you didn't use an online tool, instructions in your will, trust, power of attorney, or other record control. Third, if you left no instructions at all, the custodian's standard terms-of-service agreement controls, and most of those agreements are written to restrict, not expand, third-party access. Using the platform's own tool where one exists is often the simplest way to make your wishes clearly enforceable.

Why Express Authorization Matters for a Power of Attorney

This is the detail that trips up a lot of otherwise well-drafted estate plans. Fla. Stat. § 740.008 requires a power of attorney to expressly grant your agent authority over the content of electronic communications before a custodian has to disclose that content. A power of attorney that only gives your agent broad, general authority over your digital assets, without specifically addressing the content of communications, will typically only get your agent a catalog of activity under Fla. Stat. § 740.009, not the actual substance of your emails and messages. Many older or generic power of attorney forms simply don't include this specific language, which can leave an incapacitated principal's agent unable to get real access when it matters most.

A Personal Representative's Access After Death

After death, the same content-versus-catalog distinction applies to your personal representative. Under Fla. Stat. § 740.007, a custodian must generally disclose a catalog of your electronic communications and most other digital assets if the personal representative provides a death certificate and letters of administration. Getting the actual content of your communications is a higher bar: Fla. Stat. § 740.006 requires the personal representative to also provide a copy of your will, trust, power of attorney, or other record showing you consented to that disclosure, unless you already gave that direction through a custodian's online tool. Once a proper request is made, the custodian generally has 60 days to comply under Fla. Stat. § 740.06, and can go to court to compel compliance if a custodian doesn't.

Naming a Digital Executor

Florida law doesn't define or require a separate "digital executor." The authority already runs through your personal representative, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney. That said, many people still find it useful to informally designate whoever in the family is most comfortable with technology to handle the practical legwork, closing accounts, downloading photos, canceling subscriptions, even if that person isn't your named fiduciary. What matters legally is that your actual fiduciary's authority is documented clearly enough to satisfy Chapter 740's requirements, particularly the express-authorization language for content of communications.

Cryptocurrency Is a Different Problem

Chapter 740 works by compelling a custodian to disclose information. A self-custody cryptocurrency wallet, one where you hold your own private keys rather than keeping funds on an exchange, has no custodian to serve a request on. Access depends entirely on the private key or seed phrase. If that information isn't stored somewhere your fiduciary can find and use it, no letters of administration, court order, or provision in your will can recover the assets. Exchange-held crypto accounts are more like traditional financial accounts and are generally reachable the same way other digital assets are, but self-custody wallets need their own separate plan: secure storage of the seed phrase or private key, with clear instructions for your fiduciary on where to find it and how to use it.

Practical Steps to Take Now

Start with an inventory, not a password list: a record of what digital assets exist and roughly where, kept separately from your will since a will becomes a public record once it's filed for probate. Add express digital-asset language to your power of attorney and trust, specifically addressing content of communications, not just general authority. Use a custodian's own online tool where one is available, since it has top priority under Florida law. Store actual credentials in a password manager or other secure location, with instructions your fiduciary can follow. And revisit the plan periodically, since new accounts and new assets, especially cryptocurrency, tend to accumulate faster than people update their estate planning documents to reflect them.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Florida law give my personal representative automatic access to my email after I die?

Not automatically, and not to the full content of your messages. Under Fla. Stat. 740.007, your personal representative can generally get a catalog of your electronic communications, essentially a log of who you emailed and when, just by providing a death certificate and letters of administration. But to get the actual content of your emails, Fla. Stat. 740.006 requires the personal representative to also provide a copy of your will, trust, power of attorney, or other record showing you consented to that disclosure, unless you used the custodian's own online tool, like Gmail's Inactive Account Manager, to give that direction directly.

Do I need to name a separate digital executor in my will under Florida law?

No, Florida law does not require or even define a separate digital executor role. Your personal representative, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney already has authority to handle digital assets under Chapter 740. Some people still choose to informally designate a tech-savvy family member to handle the practical work of closing accounts and retrieving files, but legally that person is acting under the authority already granted to your named fiduciary.

Can my agent under a power of attorney access my email while I'm alive but incapacitated?

Only if your power of attorney expressly grants that authority. Fla. Stat. 740.008 requires the power of attorney to expressly grant the agent authority over the content of electronic communications before a custodian has to disclose it. A power of attorney that only gives your agent general authority to manage digital assets, without specifically mentioning the content of communications, will typically get your agent a catalog of activity under Fla. Stat. 740.009, but not the substance of your emails and messages.

What happens to cryptocurrency if I don't leave instructions for my digital wallet?

It can become permanently unrecoverable. Chapter 740 works by compelling a custodian, an email provider, bank, or social media company, to disclose information. A self-custody cryptocurrency wallet has no custodian to serve a request on; access depends entirely on the private key or seed phrase. If no one knows where that information is stored or how to use it, no court order or letters of administration can get the assets back.

Should I put my passwords in my will?

No. A will becomes a public record once it's filed for probate, so listing passwords directly in it exposes them permanently. Better practice is to list the existence and general nature of your digital assets in your estate planning documents while keeping actual credentials in a password manager or secure location, with instructions for your fiduciary on how to find and access it.

Don't Leave Your Digital Life Out of Your Estate Plan

Attorney Graziano can build the express digital-asset language Florida law requires into your power of attorney, trust, and will, so your fiduciary can actually get access when it matters. Schedule a consultation, in person or by video.

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