Your photos, cryptocurrency, domain names, loyalty points, and email accounts all carry value, but Florida law does not treat them like the cash in your bank account. This guide walks through how digital assets actually move through a Florida estate, what it costs, and how long the steps take.
What Counts as a Digital Asset in Florida
Florida adopted the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Chapter 740, Florida Statutes), which governs who may access your electronic records after death or incapacity. Digital assets include online accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, cloud-stored files, and the content of electronic communications. Note that the law separates the asset (a crypto balance, which has real money value) from the account (an email login, which is mostly access). Both need a plan.
How Access Is Granted: The Three-Tier Order
Under Chapter 740, control follows a priority. First, an online tool offered by the provider (such as a legacy contact or inactive account manager) overrides everything else. Second, if there is no online tool, your will, trust, or durable power of attorney directs access. Third, if you left nothing, the provider’s terms-of-service agreement controls, which often blocks heirs entirely. The practical takeaway: setting the provider’s online tool takes minutes and outranks even a carefully drafted will.
Where Probate Fits
If a digital asset has transferable value, such as a crypto wallet or a monetizable domain, it becomes part of your probate estate unless it is held in a revocable trust (Chapter 736) or passes by a beneficiary designation. A personal representative appointed through Florida probate then has authority under Chapter 740 to request access. Sentimental-only accounts, like a photo library, can often be handled informally if you have shared credentials, but a fiduciary should never rely on quietly logging in, which can violate federal computer-access law.
Cost and Timeline
Adding digital-asset language to a Florida will or trust is usually folded into the document’s drafting fee rather than billed separately. The expensive part is omission. If a wallet ends up in probate, your estate follows the same path as any other Florida asset: summary administration is available when the estate is under $75,000 or the decedent has been deceased over two years, and it typically resolves in weeks; formal administration applies to larger estates and commonly runs several months to a year. A locked, undocumented crypto wallet can become permanently inaccessible, a loss no court can undo.
A Florida Action Plan
Set every available online legacy tool now. Then create an inventory that lists accounts and where access information is stored, but keep actual passwords out of the will itself, since a Florida will becomes a public court record once filed. Store credentials in a password manager or sealed memorandum referenced by your estate documents. Finally, grant explicit authority over digital assets to your personal representative and your agent under your durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) so they can act during both incapacity and after death.
Talk With a Florida Attorney
Digital-asset rules sit at the intersection of Florida’s Chapter 740, federal privacy law, and each provider’s contract, and they change as platforms update their policies. A Florida estate planning attorney can align your will, trust, and powers of attorney so your heirs gain lawful access without a court fight. Consider a consultation before assuming your loved ones can simply log in.
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