# W. Va. Code § 44-5B-2: Definitions > West Virginia · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S2 ## Section - **Citation:** W. Va. Code § 44-5B-2 - **Heading:** Definitions - **Jurisdiction:** West Virginia - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** WV Code / Chapter 44 / Article 5B / Section 2 ## Text In this article: “Account” means an arrangement under a terms-of-service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user; “Agent” means an attorney-in-fact granted authority under a durable or nondurable power of attorney; “Carries” means engages in the transmission of an electronic communication; “Catalogue of electronic communications” means information that identifies each person with whom a user has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the communication, and the electronic address of the person; “Conservator” means a person appointed by a court to manage the estate and financial affairs of a protected person. The term includes a limited conservator and temporary conservator; “Content of an electronic communication” means information concerning the substance or meaning of the communication which: (1) Has been sent or received by a user; (2) Is in electronic storage by a custodian providing an electronic communication service to the public or is carried or maintained by a custodian providing a remote computing service to the public; and (3) Is not readily accessible to the public; “Court” means the circuit court of the county having jurisdiction over the fiduciary or designated recipient; “Custodian” means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user; “Designated recipient” means a person chosen by a user using an online tool to administer digital assets of the user; “Digital asset” means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. The term does not include an underlying asset or liability, unless the asset or liability is itself an electronic record; “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities; “Electronic communication” has the meaning set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2510(12); “Electronic communication service” means a custodian that provides to a user the ability to send or receive an electronic communication; “Fiduciary” means an original, additional or successor personal representative, conservator, agent, or trustee; “Information” means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like; “Online tool” means an electronic service provided by a custodian that allows the user, in an agreement distinct from the terms-of-service agreement between the custodian and user, to provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital assets to a third person; “Person” means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or other legal entity; “Personal representative” means an executor, administrator, special administrator, or person that performs substantially the same function under law of this state other than this article; “Power of attorney” means a record that grants an agent authority to act in the place of a principal; “Principal” means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney; “Protected person” means an individual for whom a conservator has been appointed. The term includes an individual for whom an application for the appointment of a conservator is pending; “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; “Remote computing service” means a custodian that provides to a user computer-processing services or the storage of digital assets by means of an electronic communications system, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2510(14); “Terms of service agreement” means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian; n an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; “Remote computing service” means a custodian that provides to a user computer-processing services or the storage of digital assets by means of an electronic communications system, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2510(14); “Terms of service agreement” means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian; “Trustee” means a fiduciary with legal title to property under an agreement or declaration that creates a beneficial interest in another. The term includes a successor trustee; “User” means a person that has an account with a custodian; and “Will” includes a codicil, testamentary instrument that only appoints an executor, and instrument that revokes or revises a testamentary instrument. ## Nearby sections - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-1 §44-5B-1. Short title.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S1.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-2 §44-5B-2. Definitions.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S2.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-3 §44-5B-3. Applicability.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S3.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-4 §44-5B-4. User direction for disclosure of digital assets.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S4.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-5 §44-5B-5. Terms of service agreement.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S5.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-6 §44-5B-6. Procedure for disclosing digital assets.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S6.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-7 §44-5B-7. Disclosure of content of electronic communications of deceased user.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S7.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-8 §44-5B-8. Disclosure of other digital assets of deceased user.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S8.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-9 §44-5B-9. Disclosure of content of electronic communications of principal.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S9.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-10 §44-5B-10. Disclosure of other digital assets of principal.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S10.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-11 §44-5B-11. Disclosure of digital assets held in trust when trustee is original user.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S11.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-12 §44-5B-12. Disclosure of contents of electronic communications held in trust when trustee not original user.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S12.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-13 §44-5B-13. Disclosure of other digital assets held in trust when trustee not original user.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S13.md) - [W. Va. Code § 44-5B-14 §44-5B-14. Disclosure of digital assets to conservator of protected person.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S14.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WV_C44_A5B_S2. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.