Bill > S758

This bill allows a personal representative, who is an individual appointed to manage a deceased person's estate, to gain reasonable access to the deceased person's electronic mail accounts. To do this, the personal representative must provide the electronic mail service provider, which is a company that acts as an intermediary for sending and receiving emails, with either a notarized written request along with a death certificate and proof of appointment, or an order from the probate court. The provider must then grant access within 60 days, and this right overrides any conflicting terms in the provider's contracts or privacy policies, unless the provider can prove the deceased had explicitly opted out of such access. The purpose is to enable the personal representative to fulfill their duties, and they will be held to the same legal standards as for other estate matters, with providers being protected from liability for good-faith compliance. However, this access can be overridden by the deceased's will, and it does not apply to employer-provided email accounts used for professional purposes. The bill also clarifies the powers of a special personal representative and states that these provisions apply to all existing electronic mail accounts and those whose contents have been preserved by the provider.