§ 15-1-1515 — Fiduciary duty and authority

Colorado § 15-1-1515

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 15: Probate,
• Art.: Fiduciary

Text

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

(a) The duty of care;

(b) The duty of loyalty; and

(c) The duty of confidentiality.

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

(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 15-1-1504, is subject to the
applicable terms of service;

(b) Is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;

(c) In the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties;
and

(d) May not be used to impersonate the user.

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

(4) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties is an
authorized user of the property of the decedent, protected person, principal, or
settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including article 5.5 of title 18, C.R.S.

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

(a) Has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and

(b) Is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and
unauthorized-computer-access laws, including article 5.5 of title 18, C.R.S.

(6) 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.

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

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

(b) A certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative or a
small-estate affidavit or court order, court order, power of attorney, or trust giving
the fiduciary authority over the account; and

(c) If requested by the custodian:

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

(II) Evidence linking the account to the user; or

(III) A finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the
custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph (I) of this
paragraph (c).

(8) A domiciliary foreign personal representative is not required to comply
with the provisions of section 15-13-204, or with any other provision of article 13 of
this title, as a condition to obtaining disclosure of a digital asset pursuant to this
part 15.

(9) A foreign conservator is not required to comply with the provisions of
section 15-14-433 as a condition to obtaining disclosure of a digital asset pursuant
to this part 15.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2016: Entire part added, (SB 16-088), ch. 71, p. 187, � 1, effective August 10.