ARIZONA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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HB 2054: electronic wills; requirements |
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PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Allen J, LD 15 BILL STATUS: House Engrossed |
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Modifies requirements for
electronic wills and witnesses. 
History
In 2018, Arizona enacted House Bill 2656 to permit electronic wills and establish requirements for how those wills must be executed and maintained. HB 2656 goes into effect on July 1, 2019. This section reflects the law as it will exist on HB 2656's effective date.
An electronic will is a testamentary instrument that is executed and maintained on an electronic medium (A.R.S. § 14-1201).
An electronic will must:
a. Be created and maintained in an electronic record;
b. Contain the testator's electronic signature, whether made by the testator or some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction;
c. Contain the electronic signatures of at least two people who meet certain statutory requirements; and
d. Contain a copy of the testator's government-issued identification card (A.R.S. § 14-2518).
For an electronic will to be self-proved, it must:
a. Be acknowledged by the testator and by affidavits of the witnesses before an officer authorized to administer oaths;
b. Contain a notary public's electronic signature and seal;
c. Designate a qualified custodian to maintain custody of the electronic will; and
d. Be in the qualified custodian's custody at all times before being offered for probate or being reduced to a certified paper copy (A.R.S. § 14-2519).
A qualified custodian may not be related to the testator, may not be a devisee or related to a devisee, and must store electronic wills as prescribed by statute (A.R.S. § 14-2520).
Provisions
1. Prohibits a person who is a devisee or related to a devisee from being a witness to a will executed after September 30, 2019, unless the will is self-proved (Sec. 3).
2. Requires that, to be self-proved, a qualified custodian must maintain exclusive control of the electronic will before it is offered for probate or reduced to a certified paper original (Sec. 8).
3. Establishes that a qualified custodian maintains an electronic will as a bailee for the testator (Sec. 7).
4. Requires that a method or process, to qualify as an electronic signature, be attached to or logically associated with an electronic record or be adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record (Sec. 8).
5. Requires that a method or process, to qualify as an electronic signature, use a security procedure that allows a determination that it was under the sole control of the person making the signature (Sec. 8).
6. Requires the government issued identification card included in the electronic will to be current at the time of execution (Sec. 5).
7. Defines devisee, for the purpose of restricting who may be a witness to a will, as a person designated in the will to receive a devise or who is a beneficiary of a trust that is designated in the will to receive a devise (Sec. 3).
8. Defines original will as an original paper will or a certified paper original of an electronic will (Sec. 1).
9. Defines tangible medium as a medium on which information may be inscribed by writing, typing, printing or similar means and that is perceivable by reading directly from the medium on which the information is inscribed (Sec. 1).
10. Contains a retroactive effective date of July 1, 2019 (Sec. 11).
11. Makes technical and conforming changes (Secs. 1, 2, 7, and 10).
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15. Fifty-fourth Legislature HB 2054
16. First Regular Session Version 1: House Engrossed
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