(a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 35-8-115

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • 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.
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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 both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(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 § 35-8-104, is subject to the applicable terms of service;
(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, minor, person with a disability, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, minor, person with a disability, 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, minor, person with a disability, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including the Tennessee Personal and Commercial Computer Act of 2003, compiled in title 39, chapter 14, part 6.
(e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible personal property of a decedent, minor, person with a disability, 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 applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including title 39, chapter 14, part 6.
(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) If the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user;
(2) A certified copy of the letters of administration or letters testamentary appointing the personal representative; a certified copy of the small-estate affidavit under title 30, chapter 4; a certified copy of a court order; an original or a copy of a power of attorney; or a certified copy of the trust instrument or a certification of the trust under § 35-15-1013, giving the fiduciary authority over the account; 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 the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subdivision (g)(3)(A).
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