The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 14 : Decedents Estates and Fiduciary Relations

Chapter 125 : Vermont Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act

• § 3565. Fiduciary duty and authority

  (a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including:

  (1) the duty of care;

  (2) the duty of loyalty; and

  (3) the duty of confidentiality.

  (b) A fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:

  (1) is subject to the applicable terms of service, except as otherwise provided in section 3554 of this title;

  (2) is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;

  (3) in the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary’s duties; and

  (4) shall not be used to impersonate the user.

  (c) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, person under guardianship, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, person under guardianship, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement.

  (d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary’s duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, person under guardianship, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including 13 V.S.A. § 4102.

  (e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, person under guardianship, principal, or settlor:

  (1) has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and

  (2) is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including 13 V.S.A. § 4102.

  (f) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user when the information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user.

  (g) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user’s account. A request for termination shall be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by:

  (1) if the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user;

  (2) a certified copy of the certificate of appointment of fiduciary, court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and

  (3) if requested by the custodian:

  (A) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user’s account;

  (B) evidence linking the account to the user; or

  (C) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (3). (Added 2017, No. 13, § 1.)