Three Ways a Platform Can Respond
When a fiduciary or designated recipient requests access to a user's digital assets, the platform does not have to hand over account keys. The law gives the platform discretion to choose how it fulfills the disclosure.
When disclosing digital assets of a user under this chapter, the custodian, at its sole discretion, may do any of the following: 1. Grant a fiduciary or designated recipient full access to the user's account. 2. Grant a fiduciary or designated recipient partial access to the user's account sufficient to perform the tasks with which the fiduciary or designated recipient is charged. 3. Provide a fiduciary or designated recipient a copy in a record of any digital asset that, on the date the custodian received the request for disclosure, the user could have accessed if the user were alive and had full capacity and access to the account.
A.R.S. § 14-13106(A)Full access means login credentials and full control. Partial access means enough to complete the specific task at hand. A copy means a downloadable record of what was in the account at the time of the request. The platform decides which option to use.
Fees, Deleted Assets, and Undue Burden
Platforms can charge a reasonable fee for processing the disclosure. They also do not need to provide anything the user deleted before the request. If separating specific assets would create an undue burden, either side can ask a court to resolve the issue.
The fiduciary may need to present evidence linking the account to the user before the platform will act. In some cases, the platform may also require letters testamentary, a small estate affidavit, or a court order before releasing any information.
The court can order disclosure of a subset of assets limited by date, all assets, no assets, or all assets to the court for private review. This gives families and platforms a clear path when they disagree about the scope of access.