Connecticut General Statutes 45a-334p – Fiduciary duty and authority
(a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 45a-334p
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- 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
(1) The duty of care;
(2) The duty of loyalty; and
(3) The duty of confidentiality.
(b) A fiduciary’s or designated recipient’s authority with respect to a digital asset of a user:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in § 45a-334e, is subject to the applicable terms-of-service agreement;
(2) Is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law;
(3) In the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary’s duties; and
(4) May not be used to impersonate the user.
(c) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, conserved person, principal or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, conserved 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.
(d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary’s duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, conserved person, principal or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including, but not limited to, § 53a-251.
(e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, conserved person, principal or settlor:
(1) Has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and
(2) Is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including, but not limited to, § 53a-251.
(f) 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.
(g) 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:
(1) A certified copy of the death certificate of the user if the user is deceased;
(2) A certified copy of any one or more of the following that gives the fiduciary authority over the account:
(A) A certificate of appointment as executor;
(B) A certificate of appointment as conservator;
(C) A power of attorney; or
(D) A trust; and
(3) If requested by the custodian:
(A) A number, username, address or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user’s account;
(B) Evidence linking the account to the user; or
(C) A finding by a court that the user had a specific account with the custodian that is identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision.