South Dakota Digital Assets After Death: What Your Executor Can Access

When someone dies in South Dakota, their executor deals with the house, the bank accounts, and the car title. But what about the Gmail account with years of correspondence? The Facebook profile that friends are still posting on? The cryptocurrency wallet with $15,000 in Bitcoin? The subscription services still charging a credit card?

South Dakota adopted the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA) under SDCL Chapter 55-19, which gives executors, trustees, and conservators legal authority to manage digital assets — but only if the right groundwork is laid.

The Default Is Denial

Without explicit authorization, most online service providers will refuse access to a deceased person's accounts. The terms of service you clicked "agree" on typically prohibit sharing login credentials, and federal laws like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act give providers legal cover to say no.

SDCL Chapter 55-19 creates a legal pathway, but it follows a strict hierarchy of authority:

1. The user's instructions on the platform itself take priority. If you set up a Google Inactive Account Manager, a Facebook Legacy Contact, or an Apple Digital Legacy contact, those settings override everything else.
2. Instructions in your will, trust, or power of attorney come second. If you explicitly authorize your executor to access digital accounts in your estate planning documents, service providers are legally required to cooperate under UFADAA.
3. The platform's terms of service apply only as a fallback when neither of the above exists.

The practical implication: if your will says nothing about digital assets, your executor has almost no legal leverage to access your online accounts. The platform's default terms — which usually prohibit access — control.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

UFADAA covers a broad category:

• Email accounts: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, work email
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter
• Financial accounts: Online banking, investment platforms, payment apps (Venmo, PayPal)
• Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies stored in wallets or exchanges
• Cloud storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud
• Subscription services: Netflix, Spotify, software licenses
• Domain names and websites: Registered domains, hosting accounts, online businesses
• Digital photos and documents: Stored anywhere online

Cryptocurrency deserves special attention. Unlike a bank account, there is no institution your executor can call to recover funds. If you hold crypto in a self-custodied wallet (not on an exchange), the private key or seed phrase is the only way to access the funds. If that key dies with you, the assets are permanently lost.

What to Include in Your Estate Plan

The authorization in your will or trust needs to be explicit. A general grant of authority to your executor is not enough — UFADAA requires specific language authorizing access to digital assets and electronic communications.

At minimum, your estate planning documents should:

1. Grant your executor authority to access digital accounts under SDCL Chapter 55-19
2. Specify what the executor can do: access, manage, copy, transfer, or delete
3. Address electronic communications specifically — UFADAA distinguishes between the "catalogue" of communications (who you communicated with, when) and the "content" (the actual messages). Content access requires more explicit authorization.

Beyond the legal documents, your executor needs practical information:

• A list of accounts (email, social, financial, cloud) with usernames
• Instructions for locating passwords (password manager master password, physical location of a written list)
• Cryptocurrency wallet locations and recovery phrases
• Instructions for specific accounts (close this one, memorialize that one, transfer this domain)

Do not put passwords directly in your will — wills become public record during probate. Use a sealed letter stored with your estate documents, a password manager with a shared vault, or a trusted third-party digital legacy service.

Platform-Specific Settings to Configure Now

Several major platforms offer legacy or inactive account features that you can configure today:

• Google: Inactive Account Manager lets you designate someone to receive account data after a period of inactivity (3-18 months, your choice). You can also choose to have the account deleted automatically.
• Facebook: Legacy Contact can manage your memorialized profile. You can also choose to have the account permanently deleted after death.
• Apple: Digital Legacy contacts can request access to your iCloud data, photos, and messages using an access key you share in advance.

These settings take priority over will provisions under UFADAA. Set them up once and they work automatically.

The Practical Toolkit

For most South Dakota families, digital estate planning is a list — maintained alongside your will and updated periodically — plus explicit language in your estate documents authorizing access.

The South Dakota Basic Estate Planning Kit includes a digital asset inventory template and the specific authorization language that satisfies SDCL Chapter 55-19 requirements, giving your executor the legal and practical tools to manage your digital life alongside your physical estate.

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