In this chapter:

Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 711.03

  • Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Personal representative: means a person, however denominated, who is authorized to administer a decedent's estate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Property: includes real and personal property. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
   (1)   “Account” means an arrangement under a terms of service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a user’s digital property or provides goods or services to the user.
   (2)   “Agent” means a person granted authority to act under a durable or nondurable power of attorney.
   (3)   “Carries” means engages in the transmission of an electronic communication.
   (4)   “Catalogue of electronic communications” means information that identifies each person with which a user has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the communication, and the electronic address of the person.
   (5)   “Conservator” means a person appointed under s. 54.76 to manage the estate of a living individual.
   (6)   “Content of an electronic communication” means information concerning the substance or meaning of a communication that satisfies all of the following:
      (a)    The information was sent or received by a user.
      (b)    The information is electronically stored by a custodian that provides an electronic communication service to the public or is carried or maintained by a custodian that provides a remote computing service to the public.
      (c)    The information is not readily accessible to the public.
   (7)   “Court” means the circuit court having jurisdiction over a matter related to this chapter.
   (8)   “Custodian” means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a user’s digital property.
   (9)   “Designated recipient” means a person chosen by the user using an online tool to administer the user’s digital property.
   (10)   “Digital property” means an electronic record in which a person has a right or interest. “Digital property” does not include underlying property or an underlying liability unless the property or liability is itself an electronic record.
   (11)   “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
   (12)   “Electronic communication” has the meaning given in 18 U.S. Code § 2510 (12).
   (13)   “Electronic communication service” means a custodian that provides to a user the ability to send or receive an electronic communication.
   (14)   “Fiduciary” means an original, additional, or successor personal representative, conservator, guardian, agent, or trustee.
   (15)   “Governing instrument” has the meaning given in s. 854.01 (2).
   (16)   “Guardian” means a person appointed under s. 54.10.
   (17)   “Information” means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like.
   (18)   “Online tool” means a setting provided by a custodian that allows the user, by an agreement between the custodian and user that is distinct from the user’s assent to the terms of service, to provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital property to a designated recipient.
   (19)   “Person” means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.
   (20)   “Personal representative” has the meaning given in s. 851.23, but also includes a special administrator and any person who, under the laws of this state other than this chapter, performs functions substantially similar to a personal representative, as defined in s. 851.23.
   (21)   “Power of attorney” means an instrument that grants an agent authority to act in the place of a principal.
   (22)   “Principal” means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.
   (23)   “Protected person” means all of the following:
      (a)    An individual for whom a guardian is appointed.
      (b)    An individual for whom a conservator is appointed.
   (24)   “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.
   (25)   “Remote computing service” means a custodian that provides to a user computer processing services or the storage of digital property by means of an electronic communications system, as defined in 18 U.S. Code § 2510 (14).
   (26)   “Terms of service agreement” means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian.
   (27)   “Trustee” means a person with legal title to an asset under an agreement or declaration that creates a beneficial interest in another. “Trustee” includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a cotrustee.
   (28)   “User” means a person that has an account with a custodian.
   (29)   “Will” includes a codicil and any document incorporated by reference in a testamentary document under s. 853.32 (1) or (2).

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