Nevada assemblyman aims to protect digital assets
CARSON CITY — Nevada would join more than two dozen states that have adopted legislation protecting a person’s digital assets should they die or become incapacitated.
Assembly Bill 239 would enact the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. The bill was approved earlier by the Assembly and heard Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, said the wide use of social media, from Facebook and Instagram, to online banking and other accounts, makes the law necessary.
“So much of our live are on these social media accounts,” Ohrenschall said, adding that AB239 would fill gaps in existing law to cover digital assets and who has access to them.
It’s not just photos and videos. More and more financial institutions are going paperless with online access for transactions and account information.
According to the American Bar Association, the law extends “a fiduciary’s existing authority over a person’s traditional assets to include the person’s digital assets.”
“It is a vital statute for the digital age and should be enacted by every state legislature as soon as possible,” the ABA said on its website.
No action was taken by the Senate committee Wednesday and no one spoke in opposition.
Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Follow @SandraChereb on Twitter.
