Digital Assets After Death Without a Will: RUFADAA and Account Access

The deceased's email might contain evidence of bank accounts, insurance policies, and debts you need to settle the estate. Their social media accounts may need to be memorialized or deleted. Their cloud storage might hold documents you can't find anywhere else. But without a will naming a digital executor, getting access to any of it is legally complicated.

What RUFADAA Actually Says

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) has been adopted in some form by most US states. It generally prioritizes the user's directions in the custodian's online tool, then directions in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record, subject to state law. If there are no directions, the custodian's terms and state law govern:

1. The user's instructions through the platform's built-in tool (Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Legacy Contact, Facebook Legacy Contact) generally take priority
2. A will, trust, power of attorney, or other record may direct access if no controlling online-tool direction exists
3. The custodian's terms and state law govern when the user left no applicable direction

An administrator may seek access under the applicable state's law. RUFADAA distinguishes the catalogue (metadata — who sent emails, when, subject lines) from the content (the actual messages). Access to the content of electronic communications generally requires the user's consent; a catalogue may be available under statutory conditions.

What You Can Actually Get

Each platform has its own process, and none of them make it easy:

Google/Gmail: If the deceased set up an Inactive Account Manager, Google sends the selected data to the designated contact after the inactivity period triggers. Without it, you can request account data through Google's deceased-user process. Google reviews requests individually and may provide some content, close the account, or decline; it does not provide passwords or other login details.

Apple/iCloud: Apple's Legacy Contact process requires the access key and a death certificate. Without a Legacy Contact access key, Apple says U.S. requesters can seek a court order naming them as the rightful inheritor of the deceased person's information. The order must identify the deceased and their Apple Account, the requester and their authority, and direct Apple to provide access; a general Letters of Administration alone may not meet those requirements.

Facebook/Instagram (Meta): You can request memorialization or removal. A memorialized Facebook account displays a "Remembering" label, and no one can log in to it. If you need account content, use Meta's separate deceased-user request process; access is not guaranteed.

Banks and financial platforms: Online banking portals are typically frozen when the bank is notified of death. Once you have Letters of Administration, the bank grants you access to account information through their estate department, not through the deceased's online login.

Practical Steps for Administrators

Start by locating the deceased's physical devices. Letters of Administration do not necessarily authorize logging in to accounts with saved credentials; follow the custodian's process and applicable law.

Check for:

• Browser saved passwords
• Password manager apps (1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden)
• Written password lists (surprisingly common — check desk drawers, filing cabinets, the back of notebooks)
• Two-factor authentication apps on the phone

If the phone is locked and you don't know the passcode, Apple says it cannot remove a passcode lock without erasing the device, and Google will not provide account passwords or login details. Use the providers' deceased-user account processes instead.

What You're Looking For

The point of accessing digital accounts isn't just to close them — it's to find assets and liabilities you wouldn't discover any other way:

• Email confirmations of financial accounts, insurance policies, subscriptions
• Online-only bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets
• Recurring charges and subscriptions that are draining the estate
• Tax documents and financial statements
• Correspondence that reveals debts, loans, or legal obligations

Cancel recurring subscriptions as soon as possible. Every month of streaming services, cloud storage, and app subscriptions is money leaving the estate unnecessarily.

The Intestacy Survival Guide walks through the digital asset discovery process step by step and includes platform-specific request templates for the major services.