Skip to main content
Idaho Digital Assets After Death
Support GuideIdaho22 min read

Idaho Digital Assets After Death

Idaho's digital assets act, Idaho Code 15-14-101 to 15-14-119, ranks an online tool above a will and gives a provider 60 days to answer a fiduciary.

By Settled Editorial

An Idaho estate today often holds things no one can hand over at a bank counter: an email account, years of photos in the cloud, a PayPal balance, a small online shop, maybe a hardware wallet in a drawer. Idaho decides who may reach those accounts in one short chapter of its probate code, and the answer depends far more on what the account holder set up than on who the court appoints.

The law is the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Idaho Code Title 15, Chapter 14, sections 15-14-101 through 15-14-119. The Legislature passed it as Senate Bill 1303, which the governor signed on March 30, 2016, and it became 2016 Idaho Session Laws chapter 263, effective July 1, 2016. Each of the 19 sections still shows the same single history line, added 2016, ch. 263, so the text you read today is the text Idaho enacted.

Three rules carry most of the weight. A direction the account holder gave through a provider's own online tool beats a will. The content of messages sits behind a higher wall than everything else. And a provider that receives a proper request has 60 days to act.

Who The Idaho Act Reaches

Idaho Code 15-14-103 answers the scope question in three subsections.

  • Old documents count. The chapter applies to a fiduciary acting under a will or power of attorney signed before, on or after July 1, 2016, to a personal representative acting for someone who died before, on or after that date, to a conservatorship started before, on or after it, and to a trustee under a trust created before, on or after it.
  • Residence decides. The chapter reaches a custodian if the user lives in Idaho or lived in Idaho at the time of death.
  • Work accounts stay out. It does not apply to an employer's digital asset that an employee used in the ordinary course of the employer's business. A work laptop and a company inbox belong to the employer.

The chapter also defines who counts as a fiduciary. Section 15-14-102(14) lists four roles: a personal representative, a conservator, an agent under a power of attorney, and a trustee. The personal representative is the one most families meet, and the Idaho executor duties guide covers the rest of that job.

What Counts As A Digital Asset In Idaho

Idaho Code 15-14-102(10) defines a digital asset as an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. The same subsection adds a limit that matters when you build an inventory: the term does not include an underlying asset or liability unless that asset or liability is itself an electronic record.

So the login and the records count. The money behind the login does not. In a typical Idaho estate the list looks like this:

  • Email accounts on Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and similar services
  • Cloud storage and photo libraries on iCloud, Google Photos or Dropbox
  • Social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn
  • Exchange accounts holding Bitcoin or other tokens
  • Domain names and websites the person owned or ran
  • Online banking, PayPal and payment app logins
  • Airline miles and card rewards points
  • Subscriptions that keep charging a card every month
  • Online storefronts and seller accounts

The dollars in a checking account still pass through ordinary Idaho probate or a small estate affidavit. The digital assets act only governs access to the electronic records.

The Order Idaho Reads Your Directions In

Idaho Code 15-14-104 sets a three-tier order. Here is how it works from the top down.

First, the online tool. Subsection (1) lets a user direct a custodian, through an online tool, to disclose or withhold some or all digital assets, including the content of messages. That direction overrides a contrary direction in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record, on one condition: the tool has to let the user modify or delete the direction at all times. Section 15-14-102(16) defines an online tool as a service the custodian offers under an agreement distinct from the terms of service, so a clause inside the terms of service does not qualify.

Most people already have access to three of these tools. Google Inactive Account Manager shares chosen data with chosen people after a period of inactivity. Facebook lets you name a legacy contact to manage a memorialized profile. Apple lets you name a Legacy Contact who can request your Apple Account data after death.

Second, your own documents. Subsection (2) applies when the user never used an online tool or the custodian offers none. Then the user may allow or prohibit disclosure to a fiduciary in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record. The Idaho will requirements guide covers the signing rules for the will itself.

Third, the terms of service. With no online tool and no direction in a document, the provider's agreement decides. Idaho Code 15-14-105(3) says a fiduciary's access may be modified or eliminated by the user, by federal law, or by a terms of service agreement if the user gave no direction under 15-14-104.

One counterweight sits in 15-14-104(3). A user's direction overrides a contrary terms of service provision that did not require the user to act affirmatively and distinctly from agreeing to the terms. A buried clause loses to a deliberate choice.

Advertisement

Content Versus Catalog

Idaho splits a deceased person's communications between two sections, and the split decides what a personal representative can actually read.

  • The catalog of electronic communications, defined at 15-14-102(4), is information that identifies each person the user communicated with, the time and date, and that person's electronic address.
  • The content of an electronic communication, defined at 15-14-102(6), is information about the substance or meaning of a message the user sent or received, held by a provider serving the public, and not readily accessible to the public.

Idaho Code 15-14-108 covers the catalog and every other digital asset. A custodian shall disclose them to the personal representative unless the user prohibited disclosure or the court directs otherwise.

Idaho Code 15-14-107 covers content, and it opens only if the deceased user consented or a court directs disclosure.

The result surprises families. A personal representative can often learn that the decedent wrote to a lender on a certain date and still have no right to read the message. General wording about handling your affairs does not fix that. Consent to disclosure of the content of electronic communications has to be written down.

What A Personal Representative Sends An Idaho Provider

Both sections run on a short documents list.

For the catalog and other digital assets under 15-14-108, the personal representative gives the custodian:

  1. A written request, on paper or electronic
  2. A certified copy of the death certificate
  3. A certified copy of the letter of appointment, a small estate affidavit, or a court order

If the custodian asks, the representative also supplies an account number, user name or other identifier, evidence linking the account to the user, an affidavit that disclosure is reasonably necessary to administer the estate, or a court finding on the account or on that necessity.

For content under 15-14-107, the list adds one item: unless the user gave direction through an online tool, a copy of the will, trust, power of attorney or other record showing the user's consent to disclosure of content. On request, the custodian may also ask for a court finding that the user had the account, that disclosure would not violate 18 U.S.C. 2701 and following or 47 U.S.C. 222, that the user consented, or that disclosure is reasonably necessary to administer the estate.

The Idaho probate guide explains how a personal representative gets appointed and receives letters in the first place.

A Small Estate Affidavit Works In Place Of Letters

Here is the Idaho detail worth putting in a request letter. Sections 15-14-107(3), 15-14-108(3) and 15-14-115(7)(b) each accept a small estate affidavit as an alternative to a certified letter of appointment.

Idaho's affidavit route sits at Idaho Code 15-3-1201. It requires:

  • 30 days since the death
  • A probate estate, wherever located, worth $100,000 or less at fair market value after liens and encumbrances
  • No application or petition to appoint a personal representative, and none for summary administration, pending or granted in any jurisdiction

A successor who qualifies never opens a court case, and under the digital assets act that successor can still ask a provider for the catalog, for other digital assets, and for the account to be closed. The Idaho small estate affidavit guide walks through the test. If a provider's web form asks only for letters of appointment, point to the statute: the Idaho list names three documents, and any one of them satisfies it.

Advertisement

Custodians Get 60 Days

Idaho Code 15-14-116 gives an Idaho family its firmest footing. Under subsection (1), a custodian shall comply with a request to disclose digital assets or terminate an account not later than sixty (60) days after receipt of the information required under sections 15-14-107 through 15-14-115. If the custodian does not comply, the fiduciary may apply to the court for an order directing compliance. Subsection (2) requires that order to contain a finding that compliance does not violate 18 U.S.C. 2702.

Date the request and keep proof of delivery. The clock starts when the custodian receives the required information, so a partial package invites a dispute about the start date.

Two subsections cut the other way:

  • Subsection (4) lets a custodian deny a request if it knows of any lawful access to the account after it received the request. Once you ask, stop logging in on the decedent's behalf.
  • Subsection (6) gives the custodian and its staff immunity for acts done reasonably and in good faith under the chapter. A hesitant legal department often wants to hear exactly that.

What An Idaho Custodian May Do With Your Request

Idaho Code 15-14-106 gives the provider room to choose how it responds.

At its sole discretion, the custodian may grant full account access, grant partial access sufficient for the fiduciary's tasks, or provide a copy in a record of any digital asset the user could have reached on the date the request arrived. It may charge a reasonable administrative fee for the cost of disclosure. It need not disclose anything the user deleted. If separating out part of an account would impose an undue burden, either the custodian or the fiduciary may ask the court for an order disclosing a date-limited subset, everything, nothing, or everything to the court for review in camera.

So a request for one folder can come back as a full export, a refusal, or a court date. Ask for the narrowest set that answers your question, and say why it is narrow.

An Agent Under A Power Of Attorney

Idaho treats a living principal in two sections with different bars.

  • Content. Under 15-14-109, a custodian discloses message content to an agent only to the extent the power of attorney expressly grants authority over the content of electronic communications. The agent provides a written request, the original or a copy of that power of attorney, and a certification under penalty of perjury that the document is still in force.
  • Everything else. Under 15-14-110, a custodian discloses the catalog and other digital assets to an agent with specific authority over digital assets or general authority to act for the principal, on the same three items.

An Idaho power of attorney is durable by default and ends at death. The Idaho power of attorney guide covers the signing rules and the powers that need an express grant. When you have one drafted, ask for the express content grant, or your agent will see who wrote to you and not what they said.

Trustees And Conservators

A trustee who is the original account holder receives everything. Idaho Code 15-14-111 requires disclosure of any digital asset held in trust, including the catalog and the content, unless a court order or the trust says otherwise.

A trustee who is not the original user works through 15-14-112 for content and 15-14-113 for everything else. Both ask for a certified copy of the trust instrument or a certification of the trust under chapter 1, title 68, Idaho Code, plus the trustee's certification under penalty of perjury that the trust exists and the trustee is currently acting. For content, the trust document must include consent to disclosure of the content of electronic communications to the trustee.

A conservator runs through 15-14-114. The court may grant a conservator access to a protected person's digital assets after an opportunity for a hearing, and on a certified copy of that order a custodian discloses the catalog and other digital assets, but not content. Subsection (3) separately lets a conservator with general authority over the protected person's assets ask a custodian to suspend or terminate an account for good cause. Idaho's section names a conservator only and says nothing about a guardian.

One timing note. Section 15-14-114 points to "part 4, chapter 5, title 15" for the hearing, and Idaho repeals and replaces all of chapter 5 on January 1, 2027 under 2026 Idaho Session Laws chapter 79. That act did not amend 15-14-114. The Idaho guardianship planning guide tracks the new chapter 5.

Closing Accounts And The Computer Crime Line

Idaho Code 15-14-115 does three jobs.

It sets the duties. Subsection (1) applies the duty of care, the duty of loyalty and the duty of confidentiality to digital assets just as they apply to tangible personal property. Subsection (2)(d) says a fiduciary's authority may not be used to impersonate the user.

It covers devices and self-held assets. A fiduciary has the right to access a digital asset that is not held by a custodian and not subject to a terms of service agreement, and a fiduciary over tangible personal property may access that property and any digital asset stored in it. While acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties, the fiduciary is an authorized user for computer fraud and unauthorized access laws, including Idaho's computer crime statute, section 18-2202.

It allows closure. Under subsection (7), a fiduciary may ask a custodian to terminate the user's account. The request goes in writing, with a certified death certificate if the user has died, and a certified letter of appointment, a small estate affidavit, a court order, a power of attorney or a trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account.

The authorized-user protection covers a fiduciary acting in that role. It does not cover a relative who knows the password and logs in before anyone is appointed. Federal law, including the Stored Communications Act, still governs what a provider may disclose, and most terms of service forbid password sharing. Use the statutory request and the provider's own estate channel.

Cryptocurrency Needs Its Own Plan

Crypto splits into two cases under the Idaho act.

On an exchange, the exchange is a custodian. It controls the wallet and usually runs an estates process much like a bank's, so the 15-14-108 documents list and the 60-day clock apply.

In a self-custody wallet, there is no custodian. Section 15-14-115(3) gives the fiduciary a legal right of access, and that right cannot recover a missing seed phrase. Without the seed phrase the coins stay out of reach, whatever a court orders.

When you settle an Idaho estate that might hold crypto, look for a small hardware device, a written or stamped list of 12 or 24 words, files named wallet, seed or recovery, and exchange confirmation emails. Once you gain access, record the holdings and their date-of-death value promptly, because prices move fast and that figure feeds both the inventory and each heir's tax basis.

For your own planning, keep seed phrases out of unencrypted files and out of your will, which becomes a court record once it is filed for probate.

Steps To Take Now

Three moves cover most of the risk, and you can start all of them today.

Set Up The Online Tools

They sit at the top of the 15-14-104 order and take minutes:

  • Google: Data and privacy, then "Make a plan for your account"
  • Facebook: Settings, then Memorialization settings, to name a legacy contact
  • Apple: Your name, then Sign-In and Security, then Legacy Contact

Put Content Consent In Writing

Ask the attorney who drafts your will, trust or power of attorney for a clause that authorizes your fiduciary to access, manage and close your digital accounts and consents to disclosure of the content of your electronic communications. That consent opens 15-14-107 after death, and the express grant opens 15-14-109 during life.

Keep An Account List, Not A Password List

Write down which accounts exist and where the credentials live, and update the list once a year. Keep the passwords in a password manager, leave a sealed letter of instruction with your estate papers, and mention that letter in your will instead of pasting logins into it. For the transfers that avoid court altogether, see the guide to avoiding probate in Idaho.

What The Idaho Act Does Not Do

Idaho Code 15-14-105 draws three boundaries in one section.

  • It does not change a custodian's or user's rights under a terms of service agreement to access and use digital assets (subsection (1)).
  • It gives a fiduciary or designated recipient no new or expanded rights beyond those the user held (subsection (2)).
  • Access may be modified or eliminated by the user, by federal law, or by the terms of service when the user gave no direction under 15-14-104 (subsection (3)).

Section 15-14-117 asks courts to read the chapter consistently with other states that enacted the same uniform act, and 15-14-118 sets its relationship to the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.

When To Talk With An Idaho Attorney

Bring in an Idaho estate attorney when a provider refuses a request that meets the statute, when you need a court order for content under 15-14-107, when a custodian claims an undue burden under 15-14-106(4), or when the estate holds an online business, a monetized channel or crypto of real value. Those are the cases where the 60-day clock in 15-14-116 turns into a court filing instead of a follow-up email.

Planning ahead costs far less. Setting up the online tools and adding a content-consent clause takes an afternoon and removes the two most common reasons an Idaho family hears no.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Idaho law controls a deceased person's online accounts?

Idaho Code Title 15, Chapter 14, the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, sections 15-14-101 through 15-14-119. The Legislature passed it as Senate Bill 1303, 2016 Idaho Session Laws chapter 263, and it took effect July 1, 2016. Every section in the chapter still carries that single 2016 history line, so no later act has amended it.

Does an Idaho personal representative automatically get into the deceased person's email?

No. Idaho Code 15-14-107 makes a provider disclose the content of messages only if the deceased user consented or a court directs disclosure. Letters of appointment show who the representative is. They do not show that the account holder agreed to let anyone read the messages, so the request also needs the will, trust, power of attorney or other record carrying that consent, unless the user gave the direction through an online tool.

What outranks an Idaho will under the digital assets act?

An online tool the account holder used. Idaho Code 15-14-104(1) says a direction given through an online tool overrides a contrary direction in a will, trust, power of attorney or other record, as long as the tool lets the user modify or delete the direction at all times. Section 15-14-102(16) defines the online tool as a service offered under an agreement distinct from the terms of service.

Can an Idaho small estate affidavit replace letters for a digital asset request?

Yes. Idaho Code 15-14-107(3) and 15-14-108(3) both accept a certified copy of the letter of appointment, a small estate affidavit, or a court order, and 15-14-115(7)(b) accepts the same documents for an account closure request. Idaho's affidavit route at 15-3-1201 needs 30 days since the death, a probate estate worth $100,000 or less after liens and encumbrances, and no pending or granted petition to appoint a personal representative.

How long does a provider have to answer an Idaho fiduciary?

Sixty days. Idaho Code 15-14-116(1) requires a custodian to comply with a request to disclose digital assets or terminate an account no later than 60 days after it receives the information required under sections 15-14-107 through 15-14-115. If it does not comply, the fiduciary may apply to the court for an order directing compliance, and that order must find that compliance does not violate 18 U.S.C. 2702.

Does the Idaho act help with cryptocurrency in a private wallet?

It gives legal permission and nothing more. Idaho Code 15-14-115(3) lets a fiduciary access a digital asset that is not held by a custodian and not subject to a terms of service agreement, which describes a self-custody wallet. The statute cannot recover a lost seed phrase. Coins held on an exchange are different, because the exchange is a custodian and the ordinary request procedure applies.

Related Idaho Guides

This guide explains Idaho's fiduciary access rules in Title 15, Chapter 14 in plain language. Account access mixes state law, federal law and each provider's own terms, so confirm anything that affects your situation with a licensed Idaho attorney before you act.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Prefer to talk it through? Get a free local attorney match (no obligation).

Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Not sure which documents you need?

The free estate planning assessment builds a short document list for your situation.

Take the free estate planning assessment

Information current as of September 24, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Idaho can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

All Idaho guides← Back to all articles

More Idaho Resources

Explore the rest of the Idaho estate planning hub.

The core documents4 pages
Trusts and avoiding probate4 pages
Tools1 page