Template: RUFADAA-Compliant Consent Clause for Wills

A clause that covers “all my property” is usually not enough to get a personal representative into a decedent’s emails, texts, or direct messages. Nearly every state has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), and under that framework and federal privacy law, providers treat the content of electronic communications differently from other digital assets. The practical fix is clear consent language in the will that the custodian can treat as the user’s authorization.

The three clauses below are ready to drop into a will. Pick the one that matches the client’s privacy preferences, use the fiduciary title your state requires, and check whether the client has already set platform tools like Google Inactive Account Manager or Apple Legacy Contact. You can adapt the same ideas for a trust or power of attorney.

What RUFADAA Requires

RUFADAA ranks instructions in this order:

1. Online tools from the provider (Google Inactive Account Manager, Apple Legacy Contact, Facebook legacy contact, and similar). If the user can change the setting, it beats a contrary will, trust, or power of attorney.
2. The will, trust, power of attorney, or other record, if no online tool applies, or the provider does not offer one.
3. The terms of service, only if neither of the above says what to do.

RUFADAA also splits electronic communications into two buckets. The catalogue is who messaged whom and when (the outside of the envelope). The content is the message itself. Fiduciaries can often get catalogue data and many other digital assets without special consent. Content always needs the user’s clear "yes" in a will, trust, power of attorney, or online tool. That is why a generic property grant leaves the personal representative stuck at the catalogue.

How to Use These Clauses

1. Choose the variation that fits the client’s instructions. Replace every bracketed field (for example, [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator]) with the title your state uses.
2. Ask whether the client has already set online tools with Google, Apple, or other providers. Those settings override a conflicting will clause, so keep the documents and the tools aligned.
3. Store passwords, recovery codes, and account lists outside the will. The full-consent and limited-consent clauses already point the fiduciary to that separate inventory without making it part of the probate filing.
4. Confirm your state’s statute and preferred fiduciary title. Most states follow RUFADAA, but the details are not identical everywhere.

Two drafting notes that apply to every variation: if someone other than the named personal representative should handle digital assets, say so in the will. And never put passwords in the will; once it is admitted to probate, it is a public record. Keep credentials in a separate inventory or vault.

Full Consent (Including Content)

Best when the client wants the personal representative to manage accounts, recover files, and read messages when needed to administer the estate. This is the usual choice when smooth administration matters more than keeping messages private after death.

Digital Assets.

I authorize my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] to access, control, manage, copy, distribute, delete, and dispose of my digital assets, including without limitation email accounts, social media accounts, cloud storage, domain names, cryptocurrency and other virtual currency, online financial and merchant accounts, and any other digital property or electronic record, whether existing now or created in the future.

I further authorize my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] to access the catalogue of my electronic communications and the content of my electronic communications, and I consent to the disclosure of such catalogue and content by any custodian of those records.

This authorization is intended to constitute lawful consent under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (or any successor or analogous state law) and under applicable federal law, including the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., and any similar statute.

My [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] may rely on a separate digital asset inventory or memorandum that I maintain outside this Will for practical access information. That inventory is not incorporated into this Will and shall not be filed with the probate court.

Limited Consent (Withhold Content)

Best when the client is fine with the fiduciary managing digital property and seeing a catalogue of communications, but does not want the text of emails, DMs, or similar messages disclosed. Tell the client up front that finding some accounts or assets may be harder without content access.

Digital Assets.

I authorize my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] to access, control, manage, copy, distribute, delete, and dispose of my digital assets, including without limitation email accounts, social media accounts, cloud storage, domain names, cryptocurrency and other virtual currency, online financial and merchant accounts, and any other digital property or electronic record, whether existing now or created in the future.

I authorize my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] to obtain a catalogue of my electronic communications. I do not consent to, and I expressly withhold consent for, the disclosure of the content of my electronic communications to my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] or to any other person, except as required by a court of competent jurisdiction.

This authorization is intended to constitute lawful consent under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (or any successor or analogous state law) and under applicable federal law with respect to the digital assets and catalogue described above, and to evidence my direction to withhold disclosure of the content of electronic communications.

My [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] may rely on a separate digital asset inventory or memorandum that I maintain outside this Will for practical access information. That inventory is not incorporated into this Will and shall not be filed with the probate court.

Prohibit Disclosure

Best for clients who want the will to block fiduciary access to digital assets and communications, unless an online tool or court order says otherwise. Make sure that block will not strand valuable assets (crypto, domain names, online businesses) that the estate still needs to collect.

Digital Assets.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Will or any default rule of law, I prohibit the disclosure to my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] of my digital assets, the catalogue of my electronic communications, and the content of my electronic communications, except as I have directed through an online tool provided by a custodian or as required by a court of competent jurisdiction.

This direction is intended to constitute a user's direction under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (or any successor or analogous state law) to prohibit disclosure, and to override any contrary provision in a terms-of-service agreement to the extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this article prevents my [Personal Representative / Executor / Administrator] from requesting information that a custodian may lawfully disclose without user consent, if any, or from complying with a court order.

Simplify Estate Discovery for Your Firm

Consent language solves the authority problem. It does not tell you which accounts the decedent actually held. Heirloom searches more than 120 billion public and private records across 6,000+ databases to surface those holdings, so your firm can send requests to the right custodians, catch missed assets, and close matters faster. Schedule a demo to see how it fits your workflow.

Heirloom is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice. This content is for informational purposes only. Heirloom can only provide self-help services at users' specific direction. Requirements vary by state and custodian; confirm the applicable statute and each provider's process before relying on any clause.