Florida Statute 740.005
“Procedure for disclosing digital assets”
What it means
When a custodian discloses under Chapter 740, §740.005 lets it choose the format at its sole discretion: grant the fiduciary or designated recipient full access to the account, grant partial access sufficient to perform the tasks at hand, or provide a copy in a record of any digital asset the user could have accessed on the date the custodian received the request.
The custodian may assess a reasonable administrative charge, and it is not required to disclose an asset the user deleted. If a request for partial disclosure would impose an undue burden, the custodian or the fiduciary may ask the court to order a date-limited subset, disclosure of everything, disclosure of nothing, or in camera review.
- The custodian picks the format: full access, partial access sufficient for the fiduciary's tasks, or a copy in a record (§740.005(1)).
- A reasonable administrative charge is allowed for the cost of disclosing (§740.005(2)).
- A digital asset deleted by the user need not be disclosed (§740.005(3)).
- If segregating a partial request is an undue burden, the court may order a subset limited by date, all assets, none, or in camera review (§740.005(4)).
How it plays out
In practice this section means the fiduciary rarely gets a login. The large custodians answer a valid request with an export — a download of the mailbox or the photo library — which satisfies the statute as a copy in a record. We tell personal representatives two things up front: budget for the administrative charge, and treat anything the decedent deleted as gone, because §740.005(3) says the custodian owes no duty to recover it.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 740.005 does real work:
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