Connecticut Digital Estate Planning: How to Give Your Executor Access to Online Accounts

Your executor can access your bank accounts through probate court authority. But your email, social media, cryptocurrency wallets, cloud storage, and subscription services? Those are locked behind terms-of-service agreements that default to "access denied" unless you have explicitly authorized it — either through the platform's own legacy tools or through your estate planning documents.

Connecticut adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which provides a legal framework for executors and agents to access digital assets. But the law creates a priority system that puts your explicit planning at the top and court intervention at the bottom.

The RUFADAA Priority System in Connecticut

When your executor requests access to your digital accounts, the platform evaluates authorization in this order:

1. The platform's own legacy tool (if you used it) — Google Inactive Account Manager, Facebook Legacy Contact, Apple Digital Legacy, etc.
2. Your estate planning documents — your will, trust, or power of attorney explicitly granting digital asset access
3. The platform's terms of service — the default, which usually means no access

If you have done nothing, the terms of service control. Most platforms' terms either delete the account, lock it permanently, or memorialize it without granting content access to anyone.

What Counts as a "Digital Asset"

Under Connecticut's adoption of RUFADAA, digital assets include:

• Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, work email)
• Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X)
• Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud)
• Cryptocurrency and digital wallets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, exchange accounts)
• Online financial accounts (banking portals, investment platforms, PayPal)
• Domain names and web hosting
• Digital media libraries (Kindle, iTunes, Steam — though many are licensed, not owned)
• Business accounts (Shopify, advertising platforms, SaaS subscriptions)
• Password managers (which hold the keys to everything else)

The Catalogue vs. Content Distinction

RUFADAA draws a critical distinction: your executor can access the catalogue of your digital assets (a list of accounts, dates, recipients) without specific authorization. But accessing the content (reading emails, viewing photos, downloading files) requires explicit authorization in your estate planning documents.

This means an executor can see that you had a Gmail account and who you emailed — but cannot read the actual emails unless your will, trust, or POA specifically grants content access.

How to Grant Digital Asset Access in Connecticut

Option 1: Use platform legacy tools These override everything else in the priority system:

• Google: Inactive Account Manager lets you designate who gets access after inactivity
• Apple: Digital Legacy contacts can request access through Apple's verification process
• Facebook: Legacy Contact can manage your memorialized profile
• Password manager: Share your vault with a trusted person or enable emergency access

Option 2: Include explicit language in your POA and will Connecticut's RUFADAA implementation requires that authority over digital assets be explicitly stated in estate planning documents. A general "all my property" clause does not automatically include digital asset access. Your durable power of attorney should include specific language authorizing your agent to:

• Access, manage, and control digital accounts
• Access content of electronic communications
• Delete, transfer, or terminate digital accounts
• Access stored digital assets including cryptocurrency private keys

Option 3: Create a digital asset inventory A separate document (stored securely, referenced in your will) that lists:

• Every online account with login credentials
• Cryptocurrency wallet addresses and private keys or seed phrases
• Locations of two-factor authentication recovery codes
• Instructions for each account (maintain, delete, transfer, memorialize)

Cryptocurrency: The Special Case

Cryptocurrency is the only digital asset that can be permanently lost if your executor cannot access it. Unlike a bank account (which can be recovered through court orders), cryptocurrency exists only as a private key. If that key dies with you — stored in your memory, on an encrypted device, or in a wallet whose password you never shared — the assets are gone forever.

Connecticut law gives your executor authority to access digital assets, but authority is meaningless without the technical access credentials. Your estate plan must include a secure method of transmitting private keys, seed phrases, and wallet passwords to your executor.

The Power of Attorney Angle

Digital asset access is not just a death-planning issue. If you become incapacitated, your agent under a durable power of attorney needs immediate access to your online banking, bill-pay systems, and subscription services to manage your finances.

Under Connecticut's strict POA rules (two witnesses + notary), the POA document must explicitly grant digital asset authority. A standard financial POA that only references "bank accounts" and "investments" may not authorize access to online-only platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges, or digital payment systems.

Practical Steps

1. Inventory every digital account you use (a password manager makes this automatic)
2. Configure platform legacy tools where available (Google, Apple, Facebook)
3. Include explicit digital asset language in your POA and will
4. Store credentials securely where your executor can access them — not in the will itself (which becomes a public court record)
5. Update the inventory annually as accounts change

The Connecticut Estate Planning Kit includes a digital asset inventory template, POA language for digital asset access compliant with Connecticut's RUFADAA implementation, and a platform-by-platform guide to legacy contact setup.

See more Connecticut guides →