Probate and Digital Assets

Modern Palm Beach estates rarely fit in a filing cabinet. Cryptocurrency wallets, brokerage logins, cloud photo libraries, email, social media, and even loyalty points can all be part of what a personal representative must manage. Florida has a specific framework for this, and how you plan ahead determines which path your family follows. Here is the comparison.

The Governing Law in Florida

Florida adopted the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740). It sets a priority order for who controls a person’s digital assets after death and how providers must respond to a fiduciary’s request. The key point: control depends on what tools and documents are in place. The choices below are essentially rungs on a ladder, from strongest to weakest.

Option 1: The Provider’s Online Tool (Strongest)

Many platforms now offer an in-app legacy or inactive-account tool, letting you name who may access or close the account. Under Chapter 740, a direction made through the provider’s online tool generally controls over everything else, including your will. If you set this up, you have made the decision for your family. This is the cleanest path and the one we encourage Palm Beach clients to use first.

Option 2: Explicit Authority in Your Estate Documents

If no online tool was used, Florida next looks to your legal documents. A will valid under Section 732.502, a revocable trust under Chapter 736, or a durable power of attorney under Chapter 709 can grant a fiduciary express authority over digital assets, including the content of electronic communications. Without explicit language, a fiduciary may get the existence of accounts (a catalogue) but not the actual contents of emails and messages. Specific drafting matters here.

Option 3: The Provider’s Terms of Service (Weakest)

If there is neither an online tool nor estate-document authority, the platform’s terms-of-service agreement governs, and federal privacy law may block access to communication contents entirely. This is the default no one wants: the personal representative may know an account exists but be unable to reach what is inside.

The Special Case of Cryptocurrency

Crypto deserves its own warning. Unlike a bank account, there is often no company to subpoena. If the private keys or seed phrase are lost, the asset is effectively gone, and a Palm Beach probate court cannot recover it. Practically, plan to store key information securely and reference its location in your estate plan, never publicly in a will, which becomes a public court record.

What the Personal Representative Should Do

• Inventory digital assets early, just as you would real property or accounts under standard probate inventory rules.
• Use the provider’s legacy tools where available before invoking the will.
• Send Chapter 740 requests with the required documentation (such as letters of administration) to obtain access.
• Remember Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, but digital assets with real value, like crypto or a monetized account, still belong in the estate inventory.

The Bottom Line

Comparing the options: a provider online tool is the strongest and overrides your will; explicit estate-document authority is a solid backup; relying on terms of service is the weak default that can lock your family out. The work to avoid the worst outcome happens while you are alive.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Digital asset access depends on specific Florida statutes and each provider’s policies. Consult a licensed Florida probate attorney in Palm Beach to make sure your fiduciaries can actually reach what you leave behind.