BILL NUMBER: AB 691 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Calderon
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Chu, Dababneh, and Gonzalez)
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to add Part 20 (commencing with Section 870) to Division 2
of the Probate Code, relating to estates.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 691, as introduced, Calderon. The Privacy Expectation Afterlife
and Choices Act (PEAC).
Existing law provides for the disposition of a testator's property
by will. Existing law also provides for the disposition of that
portion of a decedent's estate not disposed of by will. Existing law
provides that the decedent's property, including property devised by
a will, is generally subject to probate administration, except as
specified.
This bill would establish the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and
Choices Act, which would require a probate court to order an
electronic communication service or remote computing service
provider, as defined, to disclose to the executor or administrator of
the estate a record or other information pertaining to the deceased
user, but not the contents of communications or stored contents. The
bill would require the probate court to make specified findings in
order to require this disclosure, including that the executor or
administrator demonstrates a good faith belief that account records
are relevant to resolve issues regarding fiscal assets of the estate.
The bill would exempt the provider from disclosure if the deceased
user expressed a different intent through either deletion of the
records or contents during the user's lifetime, or affirmatively
indicating, through a setting within the product or service, how the
user's records or the content of communications can be treated after
a set period of inactivity or other event and would exempt the
provider from civil liability for compliance in good faith with a
court order issued pursuant to this act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 20 (commencing with Section 870) is added to
Division 2 of the Probate Code, to read:
PART 20. Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices
870. This part may be known, and may be cited, as the Privacy
Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act.
871. (a) A probate court that has jurisdiction of the estate of
the deceased user shall order a provider to disclose to the executor
or administrator of the estate a record or other information
pertaining to the deceased user, but not the contents of
communications or stored contents, if the court makes all of the
following findings of facts:
(1) The user is deceased.
(2) The deceased user was the subscriber to or customer of the
provider.
(3) The account belonging to the deceased user has been identified
with specificity, including a unique identifier assigned by the
provider.
(4) There are no other authorized users or owners of the deceased
user's account.
(5) Disclosure is not in violation of another applicable law.
(6) The request for disclosure is narrowly tailored to effect the
purpose of the administration of the estate.
(7) The executor or administrator demonstrates a good faith belief
that account records are relevant to resolve issues regarding fiscal
assets of the estate.
(8) The request seeks information spanning no more than a year
prior to the date of death.
(9) The request is not in conflict with the deceased user's will
or other expression of the deceased user's intent.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a provider shall
disclose to the executor or administrator of the estate the contents
of the deceased user's account, to the extent reasonably available,
only if the executor or administrator gives the provider all of the
following:
(1) A written request for the contents of deceased user's account.
(2) A copy of the death certificate of the deceased user.
(3) An order of the probate court with jurisdiction over the
estate of the deceased that includes all of the findings required in
subdivision (a).
(4) An order that the estate shall first indemnify the provider
from all liability in complying with the order.
(c) If an order is served on a provider pursuant to this section,
the provider may make a motion to quash or modify the order. The
court shall grant the motion if compliance with the order would cause
an undue burden on the provider or if any of the requirements of
subdivision (b) are not met.
872. A provider shall not be compelled to disclose a record or
the contents of communications if any of the following apply:
(a) The deceased user expressed a different intent through either
deletion of the records or contents during the user's lifetime, or
affirmatively indicating, through a setting within the product or
service, how the user's records or the content of communications can
be treated after a set period of inactivity or other event.
(b) The provider is aware of any indication of lawful access to
the account after the date of the deceased user's death or that the
account is not that of the deceased user.
(c) Disclosure violates the law.
873. (a) Nothing in this part shall be interpreted to confer upon
the executor or administrator of the decedent's estate greater
rights in the contents than those enjoyed by the deceased user.
(b) Nothing in this part shall require a requesting party to
assume control of a deceased user's account.
874. A provider shall not be held liable for compliance in good
faith with a court order issued pursuant to this part.
875. As used in this part, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) "Contents" means information concerning the substance,
purport, or meaning of communications and includes the subject line
of the communication.
(b) "Electronic communication" means a transfer of signs, signals,
writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature that is
transmitted, in whole or in part, by a wire, radio, electromagnetic,
or photooptical system that affects interstate or foreign commerce.
"Electronic communication" does not include any of the following:
(1) Wire or oral communication.
(2) Communication made through a tone-only paging device.
(3) Communication from a tracking device.
(4) Electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial
institution in a communication system used for the electronic storage
and transfer of funds.
(c) "Electronic communication service" means a service that
provides to users the ability to send or receive wire or electronic
communication.
(d) "Electronic communications system" means a wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photooptical, or photoelectronic facility for the
transmission of wire or electronic communications and any computer
facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage
of those communications.
(e) "Provider" means an electronic communication service or remote
computing service.
(f) "Remote computing service" means providing to the public of
computer storage or processing services by means of an electronic
communications system.
(g) "User" means a person or entity who uses an electronic
communication services and is duly authorized by the provider to
engage in that use.