Glossary

Electronic will

A will executed and signed electronically, valid only where a statute authorises it — and only once that statute is actually in force.

A growing minority of states authorise electronic wills, some by adopting the Uniform Electronic Wills Act and others under their own statutes with their own remote-witnessing requirements. The detail that matters most is timing. A legislature can pass an electronic wills act with an operative date a year or more later, and until that date arrives the previous rules govern completely. New York's act was signed in December 2025 and does not become operative until December 2027. Reporting a state like that as simply authorising electronic wills tells someone they may sign in a way their state will not accept. Authorisation also changes the medium, not the execution requirements. Witness counts and notarisation rules still apply, usually with additional conditions about how remote witnessing is conducted.

← All terms