Digital Inheritance Laws

The law is still catching up. In many places, logging into a dead person's account without permission is technically illegal — even for a spouse or child trying to help.

To close that gap, most US states adopted a law called the RUFADAA. It lets the person managing an estate, the executor, deal with someone's digital files and records. But the power is narrow: it does not automatically open private messages and emails unless the deceased clearly allowed it in advance.

This is exactly why crypto is so unforgiving here — when there is no key, no executor and no court order can unlock it.