Fiduciary duty and authority

15-1-1515. Fiduciary duty and authority. (1) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including: (a) The duty of care; (b) The duty of loyalty; and (c) The duty of confidentiality. (2) A fiduciary's or designated recipient's authority with respect to a digital asset of a user: (a) Except as otherwise provided in section 15-1-1504, is subject to the applicable terms of service; (b) Is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law; (c) In the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties; and (d) May not be used to impersonate the user. (3) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement. (4) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including article 5.5 of title 18, C.R.S. (5) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, protected person, principal, or settlor: (a) Has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and (b) Is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including article 5.5 of title 18, C.R.S. (6) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user when the information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user. (7) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user's account. A request for termination must be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by: (a) If the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user; (b) A certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative or a small-estate affidavit or court order, court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and (c) If requested by the custodian: (I) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user's account; (II) Evidence linking the account to the user; or (III) A finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (c). (8) A domiciliary foreign personal representative is not required to comply with the provisions of section 15-13-204, or with any other provision of article 13 of this title, as a condition to obtaining disclosure of a digital asset pursuant to this part 15. (9) A foreign conservator is not required to comply with the provisions of section 15-14-433 as a condition to obtaining disclosure of a digital asset pursuant to this part 15. Source: L. 2016: Entire part added, (SB 16-088), ch. 71, p. 187, � 1, effective August 10.