Apple Denies Rightful Access

Recently, the parents of a teenager who passed away were denied access to the teen’s Apple account. Despite being the legal administrators of the estate and fulfilling Apple’s requirement of a court order, Apple demanded a further court order beyond what they had already specified. In Re Wada Estate, 2026 ABKB 309, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta decided in favour of the parents, illustrating the need for laws allowing access to a deceased’s digital assets by a person legally entitled to manage another’s tangible assets.

What are Digital Assets?

Digital assets are becoming more common as Albertans increasingly engage in online activity such as sending emails, sharing photos, posting to social media, developing websites, etc. Access to Digital Assets by Fiduciaries, Final Report 121 noted that:

“Issues arise when a third-party fiduciary, tasked with managing an individual’s digital assets, is denied access to the digital asset by an online service provider or other custodian. Even if a service agreement allows third-party access, the process set out in the service agreement can be limited, time-consuming, and labour intensive to the fiduciary.”

When Companies Refuse to Comply with Court Orders

In his decision, Justice Feasby wrote:

“This Court is not in the business of issuing duplicative orders to assuage risk averse technology companies who are unwilling to learn the laws of the jurisdictions in which they do business. Going forward, an uncooperative technology company that demands a duplicative court order as a condition of doing business should be prepared to explain why they should not pay solicitor and his own client costs.”

The case illustrates the need for a formal procedure that would compel custodians of digital assets, such as Apple or other technology companies, to prioritize instructions given in formal instruments such as wills, powers of attorney, personal directives, and trust documents.

See the full report, Access to Digital Assets by Fiduciaries, Final Report 121.

A visual summary of ALRI’s recommendations is also available.