You’ve been named executor of an estate, and somewhere in the decedent’s financial life are cryptocurrency wallets, email accounts, cloud storage, and online brokerage accounts you can’t access. The passwords aren’t in the will. The phone is locked. The exchange where most of the crypto was held is asking for court-issued letters testamentary before it will speak with you. This is the moment most executors realize digital assets don’t move through probate the way a checking account does. The clock is already running.
California’s version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, codified at Probate Code sections 870 through 884, gives executors statutory authority to request access to a decedent’s digital accounts. But the law is only one layer of what you’re navigating. Each custodian has its own documentation requirements, volatile assets like cryptocurrency carry valuation risks that compound the longer probate stays open, and a 2026 rule now puts dormant digital accounts on a path toward escheatment to the state. At Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP, we’ve spent more than 35 years helping Palo Alto families work through exactly this kind of complexity. Estates with digital assets require a different kind of attention from the start.
What Counts as a Digital Asset in a California Estate
California Probate Code Section 871 defines a digital asset broadly: any electronic record in which a person has a right or interest. That definition sweeps in cryptocurrency wallets, online brokerage and bank accounts, email and social media accounts, cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud, domain names, and digital media libraries.
Two categories require separate handling, and the distinction determines what authority the executor actually has. Self-custodied cryptocurrency, controlled by a private key or seed phrase stored only in the decedent’s possession, is governed entirely by whoever holds that key. No statute grants access if the key is lost. Exchange-custodied cryptocurrency, held at a platform like Coinbase or Kraken, is different: the executor can submit a formal RUFADAA request backed by letters testamentary, and the platform is legally obligated to respond.
One category that often surprises families is purchased digital media. An iTunes library or a Kindle collection may represent a license rather than owned property under Probate Code Section 871. Licenses typically can’t be transferred to beneficiaries, which means those assets may have no transferable value regardless of how carefully the estate is administered.
California’s RUFADAA Framework & What Changed in 2025
RUFADAA establishes a three-tier priority hierarchy that every executor needs to understand before submitting any access requests. Online tool settings take precedence over everything else. If the decedent designated a Google Inactive Account Manager beneficiary or an Apple Legacy Contact, those instructions govern, even if the will says something different. Below that tier, the estate plan controls. At the bottom, platform terms of service apply only when neither of the first two tiers has been addressed.
SB 1458, effective January 1, 2025, expanded RUFADAA’s reach in a meaningful way. Before this amendment, the statutory framework covered executors and trustees but left a gap for estates where the decedent became incapacitated before death. SB 1458 closed that gap by granting the same access rights to agents acting under powers of attorney and to conservators.
A further update worth watching: AB 2199, which adds explicit digital asset authority to California’s statutory power of attorney form, passed both legislative chambers in June 2026 and awaits the Governor’s signature. Once signed, it will make it easier for agents acting under a standard statutory POA to assert digital-asset access rights without drafting custom language.
The Executor’s Step-by-Step Process for Digital Assets in Probate
There’s an order of operations here, and skipping steps creates delays that can cost the estate real money.
Build the Inventory First
Before submitting any RUFADAA access requests, build a digital asset inventory: account identifiers (email addresses, usernames, platform names), approximate asset values where known, and each platform’s specific documentation requirements. Custodians are entitled to deny requests that don’t meet their intake requirements, and a denied request restarts the clock.
Submit Formal Access Requests with the Right Documents
Under Probate Code Section 882, a custodian that receives a valid fiduciary access request must respond within 60 days. A valid request typically requires certified letters testamentary or letters of administration issued by the probate court, a certified copy of the death certificate, and any platform-specific fiduciary request form. Submitting everything together, rather than piecemeal, reduces the chance of a procedural denial.
Know Where to Go If a Custodian Doesn’t Comply
If a custodian fails to respond within 60 days or denies a properly documented request, the executor can petition the court for an order compelling access. In Santa Clara County, probate matters are heard by the Probate Division of the Downtown Superior Court at 191 N. First Street in San Jose. The Palo Alto Courthouse at 270 Grant Avenue handles only criminal and traffic cases, so filing there results in a rejection.
Keep Private Keys & Passwords Out of the Will
Wills become part of the public probate record in California once admitted to the court. Any private key or seed phrase listed in the will is publicly accessible from that moment forward. Those credentials should be stored in a separate, secure document that’s referenced in the will or trust but never reproduced in it.
Valuation & Timing Risks for Cryptocurrency in Probate
California probate law values estate assets at the date of death. That’s straightforward for a savings account, but for cryptocurrency it creates a real problem. A formal probate typically takes 12 to 18 months to complete, driven in part by Probate Code Section 9100’s mandatory four-month creditor claim period. During that window, a volatile asset valued at $200,000 on the date of death might be worth $80,000 or $400,000 by the time the estate closes.
The executor has a fiduciary duty to manage estate assets prudently, which means decisions about whether to liquidate, hold, or distribute cryptocurrency during probate carry legal weight. Getting that decision wrong, or making it without adequate documentation, can expose the executor to personal liability. Starting January 1, 2026, California also subjects unclaimed digital financial assets to escheatment after a three-year dormancy period. Leaving probate open without acting on digital accounts creates a separate risk: those assets revert to the state. Estates already open need to account for this rule immediately when digital accounts are part of the picture.
How a Revocable Living Trust Avoids Most of These Problems
A properly funded revocable living trust keeps digital assets out of probate court entirely. There’s no RUFADAA platform-request process, no 60-day waiting period, no public court record, and no 12-to-18-month administration timeline. The successor trustee steps in privately, follows the instructions in the trust, and transfers the assets.
For cryptocurrency, the trust structure works when the wallet or exchange account is titled to the trust during the grantor’s lifetime and when the trustee has access to the credentials needed to act. Those credentials, whether a private key, seed phrase, or exchange login, should be stored in a secure document separate from the trust instrument itself, with clear instructions pointing the trustee to that document. Putting the credentials inside the trust creates the same public-record risk as putting them in a will, because trust instruments can be filed in certain probate proceedings.
For families with self-custodied cryptocurrency, domain names, or other digital assets that don’t fit neatly into a standard estate plan, the structure of the trust and the instructions given to the trustee require careful drafting. These aren’t assets that respond well to generic language.
Digital assets in probate require legal authority under RUFADAA, a working knowledge of each platform’s requirements, careful attention to valuation timing, and familiarity with California’s most recent statutory changes. Whether you’re navigating an open estate now or want to protect your heirs from this complexity before it becomes their problem, we welcome you to reach out to Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP at (650) 683-9200.