Are Electronic Wills Coming to California?

January 7, 2020

electronic willA friend shows you an email received from her father the day before he died, titled “My Will.” The attached document reflects electronic signatures of the signer, plus two witnesses. Can the document be offered for probate as a Will in California? The answer is “not yet.” How about in another State, such as Nevada? The answer is “not without further authentication.”

Laws are evolving to address situations involving “Electronic Wills”, which can range from a personally-created document stored solely in digital format, to a document verified as properly attested by a third-party Custodian. What will satisfy the Court’s need for evidence of the testator’s final wishes, free from undue influence or digital manipulation?

In 2019, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee considered AB 1667 (Santiago), sponsored by LegalZoom.com, defining “Electronic Will” as “a writing in a textual record, with the intent that the textual record be the testator’s electronic will, by either the testator or another individual in the testator’s name, in the testator’s conscious presence, and at the testator’s direction.” Signatures of the testator and two (2) witnesses could be “electronically” signed or acknowledged.

Several stakeholders weighed in to demand further study for California of the developing Uniform Electronic Wills Act, so the proposed legislation was tabled – for this year’s session.

For now, all Wills offered for probate in California, including the statutory Will form, require a writing either with two (2) witnesses (Probate Code §6110) or with the signature and material provisions in the testator’s own handwriting (holographic will) (Probate Code § 6111).

Please contact my office with any questions about Wills or Trusts.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Share