Iowa Digital Assets Planning

Most Iowa estates now include property that has no paper form: email and cloud photos, a social media account, an online bank login, maybe a Coinbase balance or a hardware wallet in a drawer. These digital assets hold real money and real memories, yet a family often does not know an account exists, let alone how to reach it. Iowa answers the access question with its own statute: the Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Iowa Code chapter 638 (sections 638.1 through 638.18), enacted in 2017 and updated in 2024.

This guide leads with what those sections say, then covers the steps you can take now so your own personal representative is not locked out, and where cryptocurrency needs extra care. It pairs with the Iowa guide to avoiding probate and the Iowa power of attorney guide. It is general information, not legal advice.

Iowa's Digital Assets Act, Chapter 638

Iowa adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in 2017 and placed it at Iowa Code chapter 638. The chapter runs from section 638.1 through 638.18, took effect July 1, 2017, and was amended by the 2024 Acts, chapter 1009. Four features carry real weight when you settle an Iowa estate.

A codified order of priority (section 638.4). Iowa writes the three-tier order into statute rather than leaving it to guesswork. Under section 638.4, an online tool the user set controls first; a direction in a will, trust, or power of attorney comes next; and a user's direction overrides a contrary terms-of-service provision the user never had to accept separately. The order below tracks this section.

The content-versus-catalogue split (sections 638.7 and 638.8). The Iowa act separates the content of electronic communications from everything else. Section 638.8 lets a personal representative reach the catalogue (who a user wrote to, and when) and other digital assets on a straightforward showing, while section 638.7 releases the actual text of emails and messages only when the deceased person consented, through an online tool or in a will, trust, or power of attorney, or a court directs it. This is why generic "handle my affairs" language often falls short for email content in Iowa.

A defined disclosure procedure (section 638.7). For the content of a deceased Iowa user's communications, section 638.7 tells a custodian what it may require: a written request, a certified copy of the death certificate, a certified copy of the personal representative's letters of appointment (or an original small-estate affidavit under section 633.356, or a file-stamped court order), and, unless an online tool was used, a copy of the will, trust, power of attorney, or other record showing consent. The custodian may also ask for account-identifying information or a court finding, including a finding that disclosure would not violate the federal Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. section 2701 and following). Section 638.8 sets a lighter showing for the catalogue and other non-content assets.

A 60-day compliance clock (section 638.16). This is a concrete Iowa deadline. Under section 638.16, a custodian must comply with a qualifying request to disclose digital assets or terminate an account no later than 60 days after it receives the required information. If it does not, the fiduciary may apply to the district court for an order directing compliance, and that order must contain a finding that compliance does not violate 18 U.S.C. section 2702. The same section gives custodians good-faith immunity, and section 638.6 lets a custodian charge a reasonable administrative fee and decline to disclose an asset the user deleted.

It runs through Iowa's District Court, not a separate probate court. Iowa has no standalone probate court. Probate is a docket of the District Court in the county where the decedent lived, and the Clerk of the District Court keeps the electronic probate record. The "letters of appointment" a custodian asks for under section 638.7 are the letters the district court issues to the personal representative. The accounts you reach feed the same inventory and final report you file with the court, so treat online balances and crypto as estate property to be reported.

The moving parts in the rest of this guide, naming a fiduciary, using provider tools, keeping an inventory, come from the uniform act that many states share and look similar from state to state. What is specific to Iowa is chapter 638 itself: the 60-day clock in section 638.16, the content-versus-catalogue line in sections 638.7 and 638.8, and the District Court and letters-of-appointment structure that supplies the paperwork. An Iowa estate planning attorney drafts to those sections.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

Section 638.2(10) defines a digital asset broadly as an electronic record in which a person has a right or interest. 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 Photos, 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

Two lines matter 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 Iowa's ordinary probate and financial rules, and section 638.2(10) says as much by excluding an underlying asset unless it is itself an electronic record. That same definition also carves out protected health information, so medical records under HIPAA sit outside chapter 638.

The Three-Tier Priority, Step by Step

Section 638.4 sets the order an Iowa fiduciary and family walk down.

An online tool the provider offers. 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. Common tools are Google Inactive Account Manager, Facebook Legacy Contact, and Apple Digital Legacy. A valid online tool designation beats your will: if you used Google to send your Gmail data to your daughter, your personal representative cannot reroute it to your son. Setting these tools now is the single most reliable step you can take.
Your will, trust, or power of attorney. If no online tool applies, the act looks to your own documents. A clause granting your personal representative authority over digital accounts, or a trust naming your digital property, gives your fiduciary a solid basis to ask providers for access. Note the Iowa power-of-attorney wrinkle: authority over the content of a principal's electronic communications must be expressly granted in a power of attorney under section 638.9, and the express-grant requirement also appears at section 633B.201(1)(i) of Iowa's Power of Attorney Act, so a general grant is not enough on its own.
The provider's terms of service. With no online tool and no direction in your documents, the terms of service decide. This is the weakest position; many platforms give a personal representative little beyond memorialization or deletion.

Remember the content-versus-catalogue line above: even at Tier 2, reaching the actual text of emails and messages under section 638.7 needs your consent to content disclosure, while the non-content catalogue (who, when) comes more easily under section 638.8. Subject lines are treated as content, not catalogue, so they fall under the section 638.7 consent showing. Generic "handle my affairs" language often is not enough for email content, which is why targeted 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 consents to disclosure of the content of your electronic communications. That consent is what opens 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 filed with the district court becomes part of the public probate record. 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 Iowa Personal Representative Requests Access After Death

When you are the personal representative of an Iowa estate, the act gives you a workable path built on the district court paperwork you already hold:

Check for an online tool designation first. Look at each provider's legacy, memorialization, or inactive account pages before anything else. An online tool controls over your other steps under section 638.4.
Review the will and any trust for digital asset authority and, above all, for consent to disclose the content of communications.
Gather your Iowa documentation. For content under section 638.7 a custodian may require a written request, a certified death certificate, a certified copy of your letters of appointment from the district court (or an original section 633.356 small-estate affidavit, or a file-stamped court order), and, unless an online tool was used, the will, trust, or power of attorney that shows consent. Catalogue requests under section 638.8 take a lighter showing.
Submit through the provider's official channel and track the 60-day clock. Under section 638.16 the custodian has 60 days from receiving your information to comply. Providers differ widely, so document every request and response.

If a provider misses the 60-day deadline or refuses a request that complies with the act, you may apply to the district court for an order directing compliance under section 638.16, and for the content of communications you may need a court finding that disclosure does not violate 18 U.S.C. section 2702. Report the accounts and balances you recover on the inventory and final report you file with the court.

Cryptocurrency: Special Care

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

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 bank, providing your letters of appointment and the death certificate. If the person used a self-custody wallet, a hardware device or a software wallet, then without the keys there is 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 if the coins are later sold.

Stay Within Authorized Access

One caution runs through all of this. Iowa Code section 638.15 treats a fiduciary acting within the scope of their duties as an authorized user under Iowa's computer-crime law, including section 716.6B. That protection does not erase two other limits. Using a deceased person's stored password to log in directly, even with good intentions, can still run into federal law, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. section 2701 and following), and most providers' terms forbid password sharing. The safer path is to use the chapter 638 process and the provider's official channels rather than self-help logins. When in doubt, an Iowa estate attorney can tell you where the line sits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Iowa personal representative automatically get into my online accounts?

No. Access depends on the directions you left. If you used an online tool or added digital asset authority to your will, trust, or power of attorney, your personal representative 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 can require proper documentation, such as your letters of appointment from the district court, a death certificate, and a written request, and can insist on evidence of consent or a court finding for the content of communications. It cannot lawfully refuse a valid request that complies with Iowa's Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, and under section 638.16 it must respond within 60 days or you can ask the district court to order compliance.

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 keys or seed phrase, which is why securing and documenting them matters so much.

Should I put my passwords in my will?

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

Sources:

Title: Iowa Code Chapter 638, Iowa Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. Publisher: Iowa Legislature (legis.iowa.gov). Publication Date: Iowa Code 2026, accessed 2026-07-15. URL: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/638.pdf
Title: Iowa Code Section 638.16, Custodian compliance and immunity (60-day compliance clock). Publisher: Iowa Legislature (legis.iowa.gov). Publication Date: Iowa Code 2026, accessed 2026-07-15. URL: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/638.16.pdf
Title: Iowa Code Section 633B.201, agent authority requiring an express grant over digital assets under chapter 638. Publisher: Iowa Legislature (legis.iowa.gov). Publication Date: Iowa Code 2026, accessed 2026-07-15. URL: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/633B.201.pdf
Title: Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (2015). Publisher: Uniform Law Commission. Publication Date: 2015, accessed 2026-07-15. URL: https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=f7237fc4-74c2-4728-81c6-b39a91ecdf22
Title: Inactive Account Manager. Publisher: Google. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy

This guide provides general information about digital assets and fiduciary access under Iowa Code chapter 638. Digital asset planning involves legal and technical choices specific to your situation, so consult an Iowa estate planning attorney for advice on your accounts. It is not legal advice.