Digital Assets After Death in Pennsylvania: RUFADAA Rules for Executors

When someone dies, their digital life does not disappear. Email accounts hold financial records. Social media stores irreplaceable photos. Cryptocurrency wallets hold real money. Cloud storage contains documents the executor needs.

Pennsylvania adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), codified at 20 Pa.C.S. § 3901, which creates a strict hierarchy governing who can access these assets — and a generic will clause is not enough to get in.

The Three-Tier Access Hierarchy

RUFADAA establishes a priority system that determines whether your executor, trustee, or power of attorney agent can access your digital accounts:

Tier 1: Online Tool Designations (Highest Priority)

If you used an online tool provided by the platform to designate what happens to your account after death, that designation overrides everything else — including your will.

Examples:

• Google Inactive Account Manager — lets you name up to 10 contacts who receive account data after inactivity
• Apple Legacy Contact — grants access to your Apple ID data after death
• Facebook Memorialization settings — lets you name a legacy contact or request account deletion
• Instagram — similar memorialization options

These platform-specific designations sit at the top of the hierarchy because the user made them directly, with full knowledge of the account's contents.

Tier 2: Estate Planning Documents (Middle Priority)

If no online tool was used, specific authorizations in a will, trust, or power of attorney govern access. But "specific" is the critical word.

A generic clause like "I give my executor authority over all my property" is legally insufficient under RUFADAA. The document must explicitly:

• Reference digital assets or electronic communications
• Grant consent to access the content of electronic communications (not just the catalog of accounts)
• Ideally cite RUFADAA by name

Without this explicit language, the executor can only access a catalog of accounts (account names, dates, addresses) — not the actual content (email messages, direct messages, stored files).

Tier 3: Terms of Service (Lowest Priority)

If there is no online tool designation and no specific estate document language, the platform's Terms of Service controls. Most Terms of Service agreements prohibit third-party access and may allow the company to delete the account entirely.

This is the default for most people — and it means the executor has effectively no access.

Why This Matters for Pennsylvania Executors

Pennsylvania executors face specific obligations that require access to digital information:

Inheritance tax compliance. Form REV-1500 requires a complete inventory of assets. Cryptocurrency, digital payment accounts (Venmo, PayPal, CashApp), and online investment platforms all hold assets that must be reported and valued.

Creditor notification. The executor must identify and notify creditors. Many recurring obligations — subscriptions, automatic payments, loan agreements — exist only in email or online accounts.

Asset collection. Digital-only assets (cryptocurrency, NFTs, domain names, online business accounts) may be the estate's most valuable holdings. Without access credentials or RUFADAA-compliant authorization, these assets can be permanently lost.

Identity theft prevention. A deceased person's online accounts are prime targets for identity theft. The executor needs to secure or close accounts promptly.

What to Include in Your Estate Plan

To ensure your executor has meaningful access to your digital assets under Pennsylvania RUFADAA:

In your will or trust:

• Add a specific clause granting your executor or trustee authority to access, manage, and delete digital assets and electronic communications under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3901
• Explicitly grant consent to access the content of electronic communications, not just the account catalog

In your power of attorney:

• Include digital asset access authority so your agent can manage accounts during incapacity, not just after death

Separately (not in a public legal document):

• Maintain a secure inventory of all digital accounts, usernames, and access methods
• Store this inventory in a location your executor knows about — a password manager with a shared vault, a sealed envelope in a safe deposit box, or a dedicated digital estate planning tool
• Do not list passwords in your will — wills become public record at probate

Use platform tools where available:

• Set up Google Inactive Account Manager
• Configure Apple Legacy Contact
• Review Facebook memorialization settings
• Check each major platform for similar tools

Common Digital Asset Categories

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

Without proper RUFADAA-compliant language in your estate documents, your executor may need to petition the Orphans' Court for access — a process that can take months, cost thousands in attorney fees, and may still fail if the platform's Terms of Service prohibit access.

For cryptocurrency and other digital-only assets, losing access can mean permanent loss. There is no institution to call, no recovery process, and no court order that can bypass a lost private key.

Building Digital Assets Into Your Plan

The Pennsylvania Basic Estate Planning Kit includes RUFADAA-compliant language for wills and powers of attorney, a digital assets inventory template, and the specific steps to set up platform-level designations on major services. It covers the gap that most estate plans leave wide open — the digital life that exists entirely outside traditional financial institutions.

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