84R6531 MTB-F
 
  By: Leach H.B. No. 2183
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the adoption of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital
  Assets Act.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The Estates Code is amended by adding Title 4 to
  read as follows:
  TITLE 4. DIGITAL ASSETS
  CHAPTER 2001. UNIFORM FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT
         Sec. 2001.001.  SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as
  the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. 
         Sec. 2001.002.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 
               (1)  "Account holder" means: 
                     (A)  a person that has entered into a
  terms-of-service agreement; and 
                     (B)  a fiduciary for a person described in
  Paragraph (A). 
               (2)  "Agent" means an attorney in fact granted
  authority under a durable or nondurable power of attorney. 
               (3)  "Catalogue of electronic communications" means
  information that identifies each person with whom an account holder
  has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the
  communication, and the electronic mail address of the person. 
               (4)  "Content of an electronic communication" means
  information not readily accessible to the public concerning the
  substance or meaning of an electronic communication. 
               (5)  "Custodian" means a person that carries,
  maintains, or stores a digital asset of an account holder. 
               (6)  "Digital asset" means an electronic record. The
  term does not include an underlying asset or liability unless the
  asset or liability is itself an electronic record. 
               (7)  "Electronic" means relating to technology having
  electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic,
  or similar capabilities. 
               (8)  "Electronic communication" means a digital asset
  stored by an electronic-communication service or carried or
  maintained by a remote-computing service. The term includes the
  catalogue of electronic communications and the content of an
  electronic communication. 
               (9)  "Electronic-communication service" means a
  custodian that provides to the public the ability to send or receive
  an electronic communication. 
               (10)  "Fiduciary" means a person that is a personal
  representative, guardian of the estate, agent, or trustee. 
               (11)  "Governing instrument" means a will, trust,
  instrument creating a power of attorney, or other dispositive or
  nominative instrument.
               (12)  "Guardian" has the meaning assigned by Section
  1002.012.
               (13)  "Information" means data, text, images, videos,
  sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or other
  similar items.
               (14)  Notwithstanding Section 22.027, "person" means
  an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public
  corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or
  instrumentality, or other legal entity. 
               (15)  "Power of attorney" means a record that grants an
  agent authority to act in the place of a principal. 
               (16)  "Principal" means an individual who grants
  authority to an agent in a power of attorney. 
               (17)  "Record" means information that is inscribed on a
  tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium
  and is retrievable in perceivable form. 
               (18)  "Remote-computing service" means a custodian
  that provides to the public computer processing services or the
  storage of digital assets by means of an electronic communications
  system, as defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 2510(14). 
               (19)  "Terms-of-service agreement" means an agreement
  that controls the relationship between an account holder and a
  custodian. 
               (20)  "Trustee" means a fiduciary with legal title to
  an asset under an agreement or declaration that creates a
  beneficial interest in others. 
         Sec. 2001.003.  ACCESS BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO DIGITAL
  ASSETS OF DECEDENT. Unless otherwise provided by a court or the
  will of a decedent, a personal representative of the estate of a
  decedent may access: 
               (1)  the content of an electronic communication sent or
  received by the decedent only if the electronic-communication
  service or remote-computing service is permitted to disclose the
  content under 18 U.S.C. Section 2702(b); 
               (2)  the catalogue of electronic communications sent or
  received by the decedent; and 
               (3)  any other digital asset in which the decedent at
  death had a right or interest. 
         Sec. 2001.004.  ACCESS BY GUARDIAN TO DIGITAL ASSETS OF
  WARD. The court, after an opportunity for a hearing, may authorize
  a guardian of the ward's estate to access: 
               (1)  the content of an electronic communication sent or
  received by the ward only if the electronic-communication service
  or remote-computing service is permitted to disclose the content
  under 18 U.S.C. Section 2702(b); 
               (2)  the catalogue of electronic communications sent or
  received by the ward; and 
               (3)  any other digital asset in which the ward has a
  right or interest. 
         Sec. 2001.005.  ACCESS BY AGENT TO DIGITAL ASSETS OF
  PRINCIPAL. (a) To the extent a power of attorney expressly grants
  authority to an agent over the content of an electronic
  communication of the principal, the agent may access the content of
  an electronic communication sent or received by the principal if
  the electronic-communication service or remote-computing service
  is permitted to disclose the content under 18 U.S.C. Section
  2702(b). 
         (b)  Unless otherwise provided by a power of attorney or the
  court, an agent may access: 
               (1)  the catalogue of electronic communications sent or
  received by the principal; and 
               (2)  any other digital asset in which the principal has
  a right or interest. 
         Sec. 2001.006.  ACCESS BY TRUSTEE TO DIGITAL ASSETS. Unless
  otherwise provided by a court or the settlor in the terms of a
  trust: 
               (1)  a trustee that is an original account holder, or a
  successor of the trustee, may access each digital asset held in
  trust, including the catalogue of electronic communications sent or
  received by the trustee and the content of an electronic
  communication; and 
               (2)  a trustee that is not an original account holder,
  or a successor of the trustee, may access: 
                     (A)  the content of an electronic communication
  sent or received by the original or any successor account holder
  only if the electronic-communication service or remote-computing
  service is permitted to disclose the content under 18 U.S.C.
  Section 2702(b); 
                     (B)  the catalogue of electronic communications
  sent or received by the original or any successor account holder;
  and 
                     (C)  any other digital asset of the original or
  any successor account holder.
         Sec. 2001.007.  FIDUCIARY AUTHORITY. (a) A fiduciary that
  is an account holder or has the right to access a digital asset of an
  account holder: 
               (1)  subject to the terms-of-service agreement and
  copyright or other applicable law, may take any action concerning
  the asset to the extent of the account holder's authority and the
  fiduciary's powers under the law of this state; 
               (2)  has, under applicable electronic privacy laws, the
  lawful consent of the account holder for the custodian to divulge
  the content of an electronic communication to the fiduciary; and 
               (3)  is, under applicable computer fraud and
  unauthorized-access laws, an authorized user. 
         (b)  If a provision in a terms-of-service agreement limits a
  fiduciary's access to the digital assets of the account holder, the
  provision is void as against the public policy of this state, unless
  the account holder, after September 1, 2015, agreed to the
  provision by an affirmative act separate from the account holder's
  assent to other provisions of the terms-of-service agreement. 
         (c)  A choice-of-law provision in a terms-of-service
  agreement is unenforceable against a fiduciary acting under this
  chapter to the extent the provision designates law that enforces a
  limitation on a fiduciary's access to digital assets that is void
  under Subsection (b). 
         (d)  A fiduciary's access under this chapter to a digital
  asset does not violate a terms-of-service agreement,
  notwithstanding a provision of the agreement that limits
  third-party access or requires notice of change in the account
  holder's status. 
         (e)  If tangible personal property of a decedent, ward,
  principal, or settlor can receive, store, process, or send a
  digital asset, a fiduciary with authority over the property may
  access the property and any digital asset stored in it. The
  fiduciary is an authorized user for purposes of any applicable
  computer fraud and unauthorized-access laws. 
         Sec. 2001.008.  COMPLIANCE. (a) If a fiduciary with a right
  under this chapter to access a digital asset of an account holder
  complies with Subsection (b), the custodian shall comply with the
  fiduciary's request for: 
               (1)  access to the asset; 
               (2)  control of the asset; and 
               (3)  a copy of the asset to the extent permitted by
  copyright law. 
         (b)  If a request under Subsection (a) is made by: 
               (1)  a personal representative with a right of access
  under Section 2001.003, the request must be accompanied by a
  certified copy of the letters testamentary or of administration
  appointing the representative; 
               (2)  a guardian of the estate with the right of access
  under Section 2001.004, the request must be accompanied by a
  certified copy of the court order that gives the guardian authority
  over the digital asset; 
               (3)  an agent with the right of access under Section
  2001.005, the request must be accompanied by an original or a copy
  of the power of attorney that authorizes the agent to exercise
  authority over the digital asset and a certification of the agent,
  under penalty of perjury, that the power of attorney is in effect;
  and 
               (4)  a trustee with the right of access under Section
  2001.006, the request must be accompanied by a certified copy of the
  trust instrument, or a certification of the trust under Section
  114.086, Property Code, that authorizes the trustee to exercise
  authority over the digital asset. 
         (c)  A custodian shall comply with a request made under
  Subsection (a) not later than 60 days after receipt. If the
  custodian fails to comply, the fiduciary may apply to the court for
  an order directing compliance. 
         (d)  This section does not limit the right of a person to
  obtain a copy of a trust instrument in a judicial proceeding
  concerning the trust.
         Sec. 2001.009.  CUSTODIAN IMMUNITY. A custodian and the
  custodian's officers, employees, and agents are immune from
  liability for any act done in good faith in compliance with this
  chapter.
         Sec. 2001.010.  UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION.
  In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be
  given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to
  its subject matter among states that enact it. 
         Sec. 2001.011.  RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL
  AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT. This chapter modifies, limits, and
  supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National
  Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq.), but does not modify,
  limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section
  7001(c)) or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices
  described in Section 103(b) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section
  7003(b)).
         SECTION 2.  This Act applies to: 
               (1)  a fiduciary or agent acting under a will, trust, or
  power of attorney executed before, on, or after the effective date
  of this Act;
               (2)  a personal representative acting for a decedent
  who died before, on, or after the effective date of this Act; and 
               (3)  a guardianship proceeding pending or commenced
  before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.