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Maryland Digital Assets Planning
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Maryland Digital Assets Planning

How Maryland's RUFADAA (Est. & Trusts Title 15, Subtitle 6) controls access to a deceased person's digital accounts: online tools, wills, POAs, and crypto.

By Settled Editorial

Most Maryland estates now hold property with no paper form: email and cloud photos, social media, an online bank login, maybe a Coinbase balance or a hardware wallet in a drawer. These accounts carry real money and real memories, yet a family often has no idea an account exists, let alone how to reach it. Maryland answers the access question with its own statute, the Maryland Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, Estates and Trusts Sections 15-601 through 15-620. Maryland adopted this version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in 2016, and Section 15-616 ties the law's reading to that uniform act.

This guide leads with what those sections say, then covers the steps that keep your own personal representative from being locked out, and where cryptocurrency needs extra care. It pairs with the Maryland power of attorney guide. It is general information, not legal advice.

Maryland's Digital Assets Act, Sections 15-601 to 15-620

Maryland's law sits in the Estates and Trusts Article, Title 15, Subtitle 6. A few features carry real weight when you settle a Maryland estate.

A statutory order of priority (Section 15-603). Maryland writes the priority into the code rather than leaving it to guesswork. If a provider offers an online tool that lets the user modify or delete the choice, a direction made through that tool overrides a contrary direction in a will, trust, or power of attorney. If the user did not use an online tool, a direction in a will, trust, or power of attorney controls next. A user's own direction also beats the provider's terms-of-service agreement. The order below reflects this section.

The content-versus-catalogue split (Sections 15-606 and 15-607). The act separates the content of electronic communications from everything else. Section 15-607 lets a personal representative reach the non-content record (the catalogue, meaning who a message went to, when, and the subject line, plus the list of other digital assets) on a straightforward showing. Section 15-606 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. This is why generic "handle my affairs" language often falls short for email content in Maryland.

A power-of-attorney rule for living principals (Section 15-608). For a person who is still alive, a custodian discloses the content of electronic communications to an agent only when a power of attorney expressly grants that agent authority over the content of communications. A general grant of financial authority is not enough on its own. Bring this up when you sign a Maryland power of attorney under Estates and Trusts Title 17.

A 60-day compliance clock and good-faith immunity (Section 15-615). This is a concrete Maryland deadline. A custodian must comply with a qualifying request no later than 60 days after it receives the required information. A custodian and its people are immune from liability for an act or omission done in good faith under the subtitle. If a custodian misses the deadline, the fiduciary can ask the court for an order directing compliance.

It runs through Maryland estate administration. Maryland probate uses two offices in each of the 24 jurisdictions. The elected Register of Wills opens the estate, files the will, and issues the letters that name you as personal representative. The Orphans' Court, a three-judge probate court, supervises administration and hears disputes. In Montgomery, Harford, and Howard counties there is no separately elected Orphans' Court, so the Circuit Court judges sit as the Orphans' Court. The "letters of administration" a custodian asks for under Sections 15-606 and 15-607 come from the Register of Wills. The digital accounts you reach feed the same inventory you file within three months of your appointment, so treat online balances and crypto as estate property to report.

The moving parts in the rest of this guide, naming a fiduciary, using provider tools, and keeping an inventory, come from the uniform act that many states share, so they look similar from state to state. What is specific to Maryland is the codified act itself: Sections 15-601 to 15-620, the 60-day clock in Section 15-615, the content-versus-catalogue line in Sections 15-606 and 15-607, and the Register of Wills and Orphans' Court structure that supplies the paperwork. A Maryland estate planning attorney drafts to those sections.

What Counts as a Digital Asset

Section 15-601 defines a digital asset broadly as an electronic record in which a person has a right or interest. In plain 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, Dropbox, or Google Photos
  • 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 accounts like an Etsy or Shopify store, an ad account, or an affiliate login

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 Maryland's ordinary financial and probate rules. The act governs the login and the records, not the underlying account balance.

How the Three-Tier Priority Works

Section 15-603 sets the order a Maryland fiduciary and family walk down.

  1. An online tool the provider offers. If the provider gives users a built-in way to say what happens to an account, the person used it, and the tool lets that choice be changed or deleted, that direction 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.
  2. Your will, trust, or power of attorney. With no online tool, 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.
  3. 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, and 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 15-606 needs explicit consent to disclose content, while the non-content catalogue under Section 15-607 comes more easily. Generic "handle my affairs" wording often is not enough for email content, which is why targeted authorization matters.

Steps to Take Now

A few deliberate moves 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 accounts, and that consents to disclosure of the content of your electronic communications. For a power of attorney, remember that Section 15-608 wants that authority over content spelled out. 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 once it is filed with the Register of Wills. 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 for good. 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 a Maryland Personal Representative Requests Access After Death

When you are the personal representative of a Maryland estate, the act gives you a workable path built on the paperwork you already hold from the Register of Wills:

  1. 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 15-603.
  2. Review the will and any trust for digital asset authority and, above all, for consent to disclose the content of communications.
  3. Gather your Maryland documentation. For content under Section 15-606 a custodian may require a written request, a certified death certificate, a certified copy of your letters of administration from the Register of Wills, and, unless an online tool was used, the will, trust, or power of attorney that shows consent. Catalogue requests under Section 15-607 take a lighter showing, and either request can prompt the custodian to ask for account-identifying details or a court finding.
  4. Submit through the provider's official channel and track the 60-day clock. Under Section 15-615 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 meets the act, you can petition the Orphans' Court that issued your letters for an order directing compliance, and for the content of communications you may need that court order. In Montgomery, Harford, and Howard counties, the Circuit Court sitting as the Orphans' Court hears the petition. Report the accounts and balances you recover on the inventory you file with the Register of Wills.

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 set 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 administration and the death certificate. If the person used a self-custody wallet, a hardware device or a software wallet, then no keys 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 cost 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 Maryland process and the provider's official channels rather than a self-help login. When in doubt, a Maryland estate attorney can tell you where the line sits.

Common Questions

Does my Maryland 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 administration from the Register of Wills, a death certificate, and a written request, and it can insist on evidence of consent or a court order for the content of communications. It cannot lawfully refuse a request that meets Maryland's Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, and under Section 15-615 it must respond within 60 days or you can ask the 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 becomes public record once it is filed with the Register of Wills. Keep passwords in a password manager or a sealed letter of instruction, and reference that separate document in your will.

Related Maryland Guides

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of July 21, 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 Maryland can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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