Digital assets after a death in Florida: email, cloud accounts and crypto under chapter 740

Florida's rules for a personal representative's access to a deceased person's online accounts are in chapter 740, the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (§ 740.001, Fla. Stat. (2026)). The Legislature enacted it in 2016 (ch. 2016-46, Laws of Fla.) and added § 740.11 in 2019 (ch. 2019-71). No section of chapter 740 shows a later amendment in the 2026 Florida Statutes, and ch. 2026-57, Laws of Fla., effective July 1, 2026, did not amend it.

A "digital asset" is "an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest," and it does not include an underlying asset or liability unless that asset or liability is itself an electronic record (§ 740.002(9)). The company holding the account is the "custodian" (§ 740.002(7)). The Sources section lists every authority, last checked October 17, 2026.

• What controls access, in order: the user's direction in an online tool, then the user's direction in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record, then the company's terms of service (§ 740.003; § 740.004).
• Content of messages and emails: disclosed only if the user consented or a court directs it (§ 740.006).
• Everything else, including the list of correspondents: disclosed unless the user prohibited it or the court directs otherwise (§ 740.007).
• Deadline for the company: 60 days after it receives the required information. If it does not comply, the personal representative may ask the circuit court for an order (§ 740.06(1)).
• Limit: the personal representative gets no greater rights than the user had and may not use the authority to impersonate the user (§ 740.004(2); § 740.05(2)(d)).

What the personal representative can request

Documents the company can require

For the content of communications, the personal representative gives the company (§ 740.006):

• A written request, on paper or electronic.
• A certified copy of the death certificate.
• A certified copy of the letters of administration, the order authorizing a curator or administrator ad litem, the order of summary administration, or another court order.
• Unless the user used an online tool, a copy of the will, trust, power of attorney or other record showing consent to disclosure of content.
• If the company asks: the account number, username, address or other identifier; evidence linking the account to the user; or a court finding that the user had a specific account, that disclosure would not violate 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701 et seq., 47 U.S.C. § 222 or other law, that the user consented, or that disclosure is reasonably necessary to administer the estate.

For the catalog and other digital assets, the requirements are the same except for the will or trust showing consent, and the company may ask for an affidavit that disclosure is reasonably necessary to administer the estate (§ 740.007). A person who collects a decedent's property under an order of summary administration is a personal representative for this chapter (§ 740.002(18)).

What the company may do with the request

• Choose the scope. It may grant full access to the account, partial access sufficient for the personal representative's tasks, or a copy of any digital asset the user could have accessed on the day it received the request (§ 740.005(1)).
• Charge a fee. It may assess a reasonable administrative charge for the cost of disclosure (§ 740.005(2)).
• Skip deleted items. It need not disclose a digital asset the user deleted (§ 740.005(3)).
• Refuse an undue burden. If separating the requested assets imposes an undue burden, the company or the personal representative may ask the court to order disclosure of a subset by date, of all assets, or of none (§ 740.005(4)).
• Deny a request if it is aware of any lawful access to the account after receiving the request (§ 740.06(4)).
• Comply within 60 days. A court order directing compliance must contain a finding that compliance does not violate 18 U.S.C. § 2702 (§ 740.06(1)-(2)). A company that complies in good faith is immune from liability (§ 740.06(6)).

The chapter applies to a custodian if the user lived in Florida at death (§ 740.08(2)). It does not apply to a digital asset of an employer that an employee used in the ordinary course of the employer's business (§ 740.08(3)), so work email and employer chat accounts are outside it.

Devices, files and passwords

A fiduciary with authority over a decedent's tangible personal property has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent had an interest that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement. The fiduciary may access the property and any digital asset stored in it, and is an authorized user for computer fraud and unauthorized access laws, including chapter 815 (§ 740.05(3)-(5)). Files saved on the decedent's own laptop or external drive fall in this category.

An online account is different. The fiduciary's authority over it is subject to the terms-of-service agreement unless the user gave direction under § 740.003, and to other law, including copyright law (§ 740.05(2)). The route to an online account is the request in Table 1, not the account password.

Subscriptions, income-producing accounts and domains

A fiduciary may ask a custodian in writing to terminate an account, with a certified death certificate and certified letters or a court order, and the identifier or evidence the custodian requests (§ 740.05(7)). Terminating an account does not preserve its contents, so request the contents under Table 1 first.

A domain, an online store or a monetized channel can be a business interest of the estate. A personal representative may continue an unincorporated business for not more than 4 months from appointment if continuation is a reasonable means of preserving its value, and for longer only with court approval (§ 733.612(22)). Income the decedent had earned but not received at death is income in respect of a decedent (IRS Pub. 559, accessed October 17, 2026).

Planning steps while alive

• Use each company's tool. Apple Legacy Contact, Google Inactive Account Manager and a Facebook legacy contact are online tools. A direction in a tool the user can change at any time overrides a contrary will (§ 740.003(1)).
• Say it in the will. Where no tool exists, the user may allow or prohibit disclosure of content to a fiduciary in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record (§ 740.003(2)). Without consent, a court must direct disclosure of content (§ 740.006).
• Keep a list of accounts. A list of account names and the company for each supplies the identifier a company can ask for (§ 740.006(5)). The estate plan review guide covers when to update documents.
• Keep recovery credentials where an authorized person can reach them. Chapter 740 does not supply a PIN, passphrase or recovery words.