Alabama Digital Assets Planning

Most Alabama estates now include property that has no paper form: email and cloud photos, social media accounts, an online bank login, maybe a Coinbase balance or a hardware wallet in a drawer. These digital assets carry real financial and sentimental value, yet a family often has no idea an account exists, let alone how to reach it. Alabama gives a fiduciary a specific statutory path to these accounts, and it has details a generic RUFADAA summary skips. This guide leads with what the Alabama Code actually says, then covers what you can do now so your own executor is not locked out, and where cryptocurrency needs special handling. It pairs with the Alabama estate planning basics guide, which covers the core documents every adult needs.

The Alabama Statute: Code of Alabama Title 19, Chapter 1A

Alabama's rule lives in the Code of Alabama 1975, Title 19, Chapter 1A, Sections 19-1A-1 through 19-1A-18, titled the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act and effective January 1, 2018. It sits in Title 19 (Fiduciaries and Trusts), so it reads as part of Alabama fiduciary law rather than as standalone tech law, and an Alabama personal representative appointed by the probate court works within it. These are the parts of the chapter that decide real cases in Alabama, cited by section:

The order of authority is codified, not a rule of thumb. Section 19-1A-4 lets a user use an online tool a provider offers to direct disclosure, and says that choice overrides a contrary provision in the terms of service. If no online tool applies, Section 19-1A-5 gives effect to directions in your will, trust, or power of attorney; absent both, the provider's terms of service govern. So in Alabama the "three tiers" below are the statutory sequence in 19-1A-4 and 19-1A-5, in that order.

Alabama defines the key terms in 19-1A-2. A "custodian" is a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user, in other words the provider. The "catalogue of electronic communications" is defined as information identifying who the user communicated with and the time, date, and address of each communication, while the "content of an electronic communication" is the substance of the message itself. That statutory split between catalogue and content, drawn in the definitions, is what controls how much of a decedent's email a fiduciary can reach.

The custodian, not the family, chooses the form of access. Section 19-1A-6 gives the custodian sole discretion to respond in one of three ways: grant full access to the account, grant partial access sufficient for the fiduciary's task, or provide a record (an export or copy) of the requested digital assets. A fiduciary cannot demand the decedent's actual login credentials; the custodian picks the method.

Death and content get their own sections. For a deceased Alabama user, Section 19-1A-7 governs disclosure of the content of electronic communications and requires the user's consent (through an online tool or an estate document) or a court order, while Section 19-1A-8 governs the catalogue and other digital assets on a lighter showing. Section 19-1A-15 then confirms that a fiduciary managing digital assets has the same authority and fiduciary duties, including the duty of care and loyalty, that apply to the decedent's tangible property.

Because Chapter 1A is Alabama's enactment of a uniform act, the mechanics that follow (the tier order, the catalogue-versus-content line, the executor's request steps) look similar in other states that adopted RUFADAA. What is Alabama-specific is the citation and structure above: the 19-1A-1 through 19-1A-18 sections, the placement in Title 19 fiduciary law, the 19-1A-6 custodian-choice rule, and the way an Alabama probate court appointment feeds the request. An Alabama estate planning attorney works from these sections and the rest of Title 19.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

Chapter 1A defines a digital asset as an electronic record in which a person has a right or interest. In practical terms, that sweeps in nearly everything you own or manage online:

Email accounts such as Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail
Cloud storage and photo libraries on iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox
Social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and TikTok
Cryptocurrency and exchange accounts including Bitcoin, Ethereum, tokens, and balances on Coinbase or Kraken
Domain names and websites the person registered or ran
Online financial accounts like online banking, PayPal, and Venmo
Loyalty and rewards balances such as airline miles and credit card points
Subscriptions for streaming, software, and storage that keep charging the estate
Digital business assets like an Etsy or Shopify store, an ad account, or an affiliate account

One line matters for estate work: the digital asset is the electronic record itself, not the money behind it. The dollars in an online bank account still pass through Alabama's ordinary financial and probate rules. Chapter 1A governs the login and the records, not the underlying account balance.

The Three-Tier Priority System Under 19-1A-4 and 19-1A-5

The Alabama sections above set a clear order of authority. A fiduciary and a family should walk down it in order.

Tier 1: An Online Tool the Provider Offers (Section 19-1A-4)

If the provider gives users a built-in way to say what happens to an account, and the person used it, that choice controls above everything else. Section 19-1A-4 makes an online tool direction override a contrary term of service. These online tools include:

Google Inactive Account Manager, which lets you name people to receive specific data (or delete the account) after a set period of inactivity
Facebook Legacy Contact, which names someone to manage a memorialized profile
Apple Digital Legacy, which names a legacy contact who can request access to iCloud content after death

A valid online tool designation beats your will. If you used Google Inactive Account Manager to send your Gmail data to your daughter, your executor cannot override that and route it to your son. That is why setting these tools now is the single most reliable step you can take.

Tier 2: Your Will, Trust, or Power of Attorney (Section 19-1A-5)

If no online tool applies, Section 19-1A-5 looks to your own legal documents. Directions in a will, a trust, or a power of attorney that address digital assets control at this tier. A will clause granting your executor authority over your digital accounts, or a trust that names your digital property, gives your fiduciary a solid legal basis to ask providers for access.

Tier 3: The Provider's Terms of Service

If there is no online tool and no direction in your documents, the provider's terms of service decide. This is the weakest position. Many platforms restrict account sharing and give an executor little or nothing beyond memorialization or deletion. Relying on the terms of service means accepting whatever each company chooses to allow.

Catalogue Versus Content of Communications (Sections 19-1A-2, 19-1A-7, 19-1A-8)

The definitions in Section 19-1A-2 draw a distinction that surprises many families, and Sections 19-1A-7 and 19-1A-8 turn it into two different access rules. The statute splits electronic communications, such as email and private messages, into two layers:

The catalogue is the metadata the statute defines in 19-1A-2: who a message was to or from, and the date, time, and address of each communication.
The content is the substance of the message, the actual text.

For a deceased Alabama user, Section 19-1A-8 lets a fiduciary reach the catalogue and other digital assets on the ordinary showing, but Section 19-1A-7 lets a custodian disclose the content of electronic communications only where the user consented, through an online tool or an estate document, or a court orders it. Without that consent, an executor may learn that emails were exchanged with a bank but not read what they said. This is exactly why generic "my executor may handle my affairs" language often is not enough for email content under 19-1A-7, and why specific authorization matters.

Steps to Take Now

A few deliberate steps while you are healthy save your family months of frustration later.

Use the Online Legacy Tools Today

Set up the provider tools on the accounts that matter. They take minutes and sit at the top of the priority order:

Google: Data and privacy settings, then "Make a plan for your account"
Facebook: Settings, then Memorialization Settings, to name a Legacy Contact
Apple: Your name, then Password and Security, then Legacy Contact

Add Explicit Authorization to Your Documents

Ask the attorney who prepares your will, trust, or power of attorney to include a digital assets clause that authorizes your fiduciary to access, manage, and close your digital accounts, and that expressly consents to disclosure of the content of your electronic communications. That consent is what unlocks Tier 2 for email and messages.

Keep an Inventory, Not a List of Passwords

Build a running inventory of your accounts and where the credentials live, then keep it current. Do not put passwords in your will, because a will becomes public record when it is filed with the probate court. Instead:

Store credentials in a password manager and arrange for your fiduciary to reach the master password
Keep a sealed letter of instruction with your estate documents that lists accounts and how to access them
Reference that separate document in your will rather than pasting the details into the will itself

Secure Cryptocurrency Separately

Crypto is the one asset class that can vanish permanently. Store seed phrases and private keys in a safe or safe deposit box, keep them out of any unsecured digital file, and tell your fiduciary where they are without exposing them to everyday risk. More on crypto below.

How an Executor Requests Access After Death

When you are the personal representative of an Alabama estate, Chapter 1A gives you a workable path:

Check for an online tool designation first (Section 19-1A-4). Look at each provider's legacy, memorialization, or inactive account pages before anything else, because that direction outranks the will.
Review the will and any trust (Section 19-1A-5). Confirm what digital asset authority the documents grant, and whether they include the consent to content of communications that Section 19-1A-7 requires.
Gather your documentation. Under Section 19-1A-8, providers generally require a certified copy of your Letters (the Alabama probate court order proving your appointment), a certified death certificate, and a written request. For the content of communications under Section 19-1A-7, expect to show the user's consent or produce a court order.
Submit the request through the provider's official channel and keep records. Under Section 19-1A-6 the custodian decides whether to give full access, partial access, or a record export, so you may receive a download rather than a login. Providers differ widely: Google's process is functional, Meta is slower, and some small platforms have no process at all. Document every request and response.

If a provider refuses a request that complies with Chapter 1A, a probate attorney can help you enforce your rights, and for the content of communications you may need a court order under Section 19-1A-7.

Cryptocurrency: Special Care

Cryptocurrency behaves unlike any other digital asset because no company holds it for you. Access depends entirely on the private key, or the seed phrase (a series of words that regenerates the key).

If the person held crypto on an exchange such as Coinbase or Kraken, the exchange controls the keys, and you can work through its estate process much like a financial institution, providing your Letters and the death certificate. If the person used a self-custody wallet, a hardware device or a software wallet, then no key means no access. There is no customer service line and no court order that can recover it. The crypto is simply gone.

When settling an estate that may hold crypto, search for a small hardware wallet device, printed or written seed phrases (often 12 or 24 words), files named "wallet," "seed," or "recovery," and any exchange login records. Once you secure access, document the holdings promptly for the inventory, since crypto values swing sharply and the date-of-death value sets both the estate figure and the beneficiary's basis.

Stay Within Authorized Access

One caution runs through all of this. Using a deceased person's stored password to log in, even with good intentions, sits in a legal gray area. Federal law, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act, restricts unauthorized computer and account access, and most providers' terms forbid password sharing. The safer path is to use the RUFADAA process and the provider's official channels rather than self-help logins. When in doubt, an Alabama estate attorney can tell you where the line sits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Alabama executor automatically get into my online accounts?

No. Under Code of Alabama Title 19, Chapter 1A, access depends on the directions you left. If you used an online tool (Section 19-1A-4) or added digital asset authority to your will, trust, or power of attorney (Section 19-1A-5), your executor has a legal basis to request access. Without either, the provider's terms of service control, and many restrict what a fiduciary may see.

Can a provider refuse my fiduciary's request?

A provider (a "custodian" under Section 19-1A-2) can require proper documentation, such as your Letters, a death certificate, and a written request, and can insist on the consent or court order that Section 19-1A-7 requires for the content of communications. Under Section 19-1A-6 the custodian also chooses whether to give full access, partial access, or a copy. It cannot lawfully refuse a valid request that complies with Chapter 1A.

What happens to cryptocurrency if no one has the private keys?

For a self-custody wallet, it is effectively lost forever. No central authority can recover crypto without the private key or seed phrase, which is why securing and documenting them matters so much.

Should I put my passwords in my will?

No. A will becomes public record when it is filed with the probate court. Keep passwords in a password manager or a sealed letter of instruction and reference that separate document in your will.

Sources:

Title: Code of Alabama 1975, Title 19, Chapter 1A (Sections 19-1A-1 through 19-1A-18), Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective January 1, 2018. Publisher: Alabama Legislature (ALISON). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-07-02. URL: https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama
Title: Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (2015). Publisher: Uniform Law Commission. Publication Date: 2015, accessed 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=f7237fc4-74c2-4728-81c6-b39a91ecdf22
Title: Inactive Account Manager. Publisher: Google. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-07-01. URL: https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy
Title: Add a Legacy Contact for a memorialized account. Publisher: Meta (Facebook). Publication Date: Accessed 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.facebook.com/help/1568013990080948

This guide provides general information about digital assets and RUFADAA in Alabama. Digital asset planning involves legal and technical choices specific to your situation, so consult an Alabama estate planning attorney for advice on your accounts. It is not legal advice.