§ 15-1-1515. Fiduciary duty and authority

CO Rev Stat § 15-1-1515 (2018) (N/A)
Copy with citation
Copy as parenthetical citation

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

(a) Theduty 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.