3B:14-61.15 Fiduciary and designated recipient duty and authority.
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15. Fiduciary and Designated Recipient Duty and Authority.
a. The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including:
(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 section 4 of this act, 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, incapacitated person, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, incapacitated 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, incapacitated person, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws, including but not limited to the provisions of P.L.1984, c.184 (C.2C:20-23 et seq.) and N.J.S.2C:20-2.
e. A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, incapacitated 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 the provisions of P.L.1984, c.184 (C.2C:20-23 et seq.) and N.J.S.2C:20-2.
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 copy of the death certificate of the user;
(2)a copy of the letters testamentary or letters of administration, court order, power of attorney, or trust 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 subparagraph
(a)of this paragraph.
L.2017, c.237, s.15.