Tennessee Digital Assets Planning

Most Tennessee 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. In Tennessee, the law that decides who may reach those accounts is codified, and it names a strict order of authority. This guide leads with what that statute 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 Tennessee estate planning basics guide.

Tennessee's Digital Assets Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. 35-8-101 et seq.

Tennessee's rules live in the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. Title 35, Chapter 8, Sections 35-8-101 through 35-8-118, effective July 1, 2016. Section 35-8-101 sets the short title; the operative access rules run through the chapter that follows. Because Chapter 8 is Tennessee's enacted version, it controls a Tennessee estate directly, and it is the statute a Tennessee probate court and a custodian's legal department will apply.

The chapter does two jobs at once. It gives a fiduciary (an executor or personal representative, a trustee, an agent under a power of attorney, or a court-appointed conservator) a legal path to the digital assets needed to settle the estate, and it preserves the privacy the account holder reasonably expected. Two features of Chapter 8 do the heavy lifting for a Tennessee family:

A codified order of authority (see below). Chapter 8 does not leave access to a provider's discretion. It fixes a three-tier priority that the custodian must follow.
A custodian disclosure procedure with a 60-day clock. Under Tenn. Code Ann. Section 35-8-106, a custodian that holds the account decides how to disclose (full access, partial access, or a copy of the records) and may charge a reasonable administrative fee. Once a fiduciary submits a complete, valid request with the required documentation, the custodian is expected to act within 60 days. If it does not, a fiduciary can ask a Tennessee court for an order directing compliance.

A digital asset under Chapter 8 is an electronic record in which the person had a right or interest: email and cloud storage, social and messaging accounts, cryptocurrency and exchange balances, domains, online financial logins like PayPal and Venmo, loyalty balances, subscriptions still billing the estate, and any online business account. One line matters for estate work in Tennessee: the digital asset is the electronic record itself, not the money behind it. The dollars in an online bank account still pass through Tennessee's ordinary probate and creditor rules. Chapter 8 governs the login and the records, not the underlying balance.

Chapter 8's Three-Tier Order of Authority

The heart of Tennessee's statute is a fixed priority. A custodian must honor it in order, and so should a fiduciary and family working through the accounts.

Tier 1: 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. 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

Under Chapter 8, 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

If no online tool applies, Chapter 8 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 legal basis to ask a custodian for access. Tennessee ties the power of attorney into this scheme by statute. Under Tenn. Code Ann. Section 34-6-109, your agent can reach the catalogue of your electronic communications and other digital assets, and under Tenn. Code Ann. Section 34-6-112 your agent gains authority over the content of your electronic communications only if the power of attorney expressly grants it. Both provisions cross-reference Chapter 8, so a Tennessee power of attorney and the digital assets act work as one system.

Tier 3: The Provider's Terms of Service

If there is no online tool and no direction in your documents, the custodian's terms of service decide. This is the weakest position. Many platforms restrict account sharing and give an executor little beyond memorialization or deletion. Relying on the terms of service means accepting whatever each company chooses to allow.

Catalogue Versus Content Under Chapter 8

Chapter 8 draws one distinction that surprises many Tennessee families. It splits electronic communications, such as email and private messages, into two layers, and it grants different default access to each:

The catalogue is the metadata: who a message was to or from, the date and time, and often the subject line.
The content is the actual text of the message.

By default a Tennessee fiduciary can obtain the catalogue of electronic communications on proper documentation, but reaching the content requires the deceased person's express consent, given through an online tool or written into the will, trust, or power of attorney. 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, and why specific authorization in a Tennessee estate plan 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, and in Tennessee it is what satisfies the express-grant requirement of Tenn. Code Ann. Section 34-6-112 so your agent can reach content, not just the catalogue.

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 a Tennessee estate, Chapter 8 gives you a workable path, and its custodian-disclosure rule in Section 35-8-106 sets the pace:

Check for an online tool designation first. Look at each custodian's legacy, memorialization, or inactive account pages before anything else, because a Tier 1 designation controls above your Letters.
Review the will and any trust. Confirm what digital asset authority the documents grant, and whether they expressly consent to content of communications.
Gather your Tennessee documentation. A custodian generally requires a certified copy of your Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (the Tennessee probate court order proving your appointment), a certified death certificate, and a written request. Some ask for an affidavit, and for the content of communications a custodian may require a court order.
Submit the request through the custodian's official channel and track the 60-day window. Once your request is complete, Section 35-8-106 lets the custodian grant full access, partial access, or a copy of the records, and charge a reasonable administrative fee. Custodians are expected to act within 60 days of receiving a complete, valid request. Keep records of every submission and response, because custodians differ widely in practice.

If a custodian does not act within that window or refuses a request that complies with Chapter 8, a Tennessee probate attorney can petition the court for an order directing compliance, and for the content of communications you may need a court order.

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. Tennessee has no state income tax, so any later gain is measured only against federal capital gains rules, but the date-of-death value still has to be recorded correctly for the estate.

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 custodians' terms forbid password sharing. The safer path is to use the Chapter 8 process and the custodian's official channels rather than self-help logins. When in doubt, a Tennessee estate attorney can tell you where the line sits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Tennessee executor automatically get into my online accounts?

No. Under Chapter 8, 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 executor has a legal basis to request access. Without either, the custodian's terms of service control, and many restrict what a fiduciary may see.

Can a custodian refuse my fiduciary's request?

A custodian can require proper documentation, such as your Letters, a death certificate, and a written request, and can insist on a court order for the content of communications. Under Tenn. Code Ann. Section 35-8-106 it may grant full access, partial access, or a copy of the records and charge a reasonable fee. It cannot lawfully refuse a valid request that complies with Chapter 8, and a custodian is expected to act within 60 days of a complete request.

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: Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 35, Chapter 8, Sections 35-8-101 through 35-8-118, Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (effective July 1, 2016), including Section 35-8-101 short title and Section 35-8-106 disclosure of digital assets and powers of custodian. Publisher: Tennessee General Assembly. Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-07-02. URL: https://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislation/
Title: Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 34-6-109 (agent access to catalogue and digital assets) and Section 34-6-112 (agent authority over content of an electronic communication). Publisher: Tennessee General Assembly. Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-07-02. URL: https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-34/chapter-6/part-1/section-34-6-112/
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 Tennessee. Digital asset planning involves legal and technical choices specific to your situation, so consult a Tennessee estate planning attorney for advice on your accounts. It is not legal advice.