Proposed legislation addresses digital assets

The Senate Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing to take testimony regarding Senator Dominic Pileggi’s  legislation addressing the management and disposition of digital assets after death, according to a press release from the senator.

Senate Bill 518 would establish the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, giving people the power to plan for their digital assets in the same manner they make plans for their tangible property by providing instructions in a will, trust, or power of attorney.

“For most people, at least some of their property and communications are stored as data on a computer server where access to these digital assets is usually governed by the terms-of-service agreement provided by a private company,” said Pileggi, R-9, in the release. “This can create problems when an account holder dies or otherwise loses the ability to manage their own digital assets. The intent of Senate Bill 518 is to simply extend a fiduciary’s authority to include a person’s digital assets.”

Senate Bill 518 would address four common types of fiduciaries: executors or administrators of deceased persons’ estates; court-appointed guardians or conservators of protected persons’ estates; agents appointed under powers of attorney; and trustees.

If a person fails to plan for the management and disposition of their digital assets, the same court-appointed fiduciary that manages the person’s tangible assets would have the discretion to manage the person’s digital assets.

The committee heard testimony from representatives of Facebook, Yahoo and NetChoice.

Pileggi said he believes that Pennsylvania must address fiduciary access to digital assets to keep pace with technology and will look for ways to do that in a way that protects the expectations of users while helping to ensure that estates are settled accurately.

 

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