Digital Assets in an Estate Plan: What Arizona’s Fiduciary Access Law Covers

Digital assets estate plan Arizona families build often leaves out an entire category of property. Email accounts, cloud photo libraries, cryptocurrency wallets, social media profiles, and online banking logins all count. Without clear legal authority, a fiduciary can get locked out of these accounts. The same terms-of-service agreements meant to protect the original owner’s privacy do the locking. Arizona’s fiduciary access law fixes that gap. But it only works when the estate plan is written to use it.

Digital assets estate plan Arizona: what RUFADAA actually covers

Arizona adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act at A.R.S. § 14-13101 and the sections that follow. The law sets up a three-tier system. It decides who controls a person’s digital accounts after death or incapacity. First priority goes to whatever the account holder set through an online tool the platform itself provides. Second priority goes to instructions written into a will, trust, or power of attorney. Third priority goes to the platform’s own terms-of-service agreement. An online tool beats the estate plan. A will or power of attorney beats the terms of service.

Digital assets estate plan Arizona: why an online tool can override the will

Several major platforms let account holders name a legacy contact. Some let you designate what happens to the account after death directly within the service. Under RUFADAA, that designation controls. It controls even if the person’s will says something different. Families are often surprised that an old Facebook legacy contact setting outranks a much newer estate plan. Reviewing these platform-level tools is now a real part of digital asset planning in Arizona, not an afterthought.

Content versus catalogue: what a fiduciary actually gets access to

RUFADAA draws a line between two categories. One is the catalogue of communications: sender, recipient, and timestamp. The other is the actual content: the message itself. Even with full legal authority, a fiduciary’s access to content usually needs explicit authorization in the governing document. A general statement giving a personal representative broad estate authority often isn’t specific enough. The plan needs language that expressly grants access to electronic communication content, not just proof the account exists.

Cryptocurrency and accounts with no customer service line

Standard RUFADAA mechanics assume there’s a company to send a request to. Cryptocurrency held in a private wallet has no such company. If a fiduciary doesn’t know the wallet exists, or lacks the private keys or seed phrase, the asset can become permanently unreachable. That’s true no matter what the law technically authorizes. For crypto and similar self-custodied property, the plan needs a separate, secure way to pass along access credentials. A court order compelling disclosure means nothing without a party on the other end to enforce it against.

The bottom line

A solid digital assets estate plan needs three things working together. First, a governing document that expressly authorizes fiduciary access, covering content and not just catalogue data. Second, platform-level legacy tools that stay current, since they can override the will. Third, a secure, separate plan for self-custodied assets like cryptocurrency that no platform can restore. Skip any one of the three, and a fiduciary can end up with the legal right to access an account and no practical way to do it.

Keep reading: For the document that lets a trusted person manage finances while someone is still alive, see Power of Attorney Arizona. For how a properly funded trust can avoid probate for the rest of an estate, see Revocable Living Trust Arizona.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. RUFADAA’s application depends on the specific platforms, account settings, and assets involved — consider speaking with a licensed Arizona estate planning attorney before finalizing digital asset provisions.