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Committee hears competing views on allowing audiovisual wills; estate lawyers warn of fraud risks
Summary
Senate Bill 411 would expand testamentary options to include audiovisual recordings in some circumstances; sponsors say it helps people who die suddenly without formal wills while estate‑law practitioners warned of deepfakes, AI voice fraud and urged adopting the Uniform Electronic Wills Act instead.
Senate Bill 411 would allow certain audio/visual testamentary statements to serve as wills or codify standards for electronic wills. Sponsor Senator Zollnikov said many Montanans die without properly executed wills and the change could preserve a testator's clear intent when conventional formalities are impractical.
Opponents from the state bar and estate‑planning community told the committee the draft is premature and carries significant risk. Estate attorney Keith Tokerud said he and other practitioners could not find any state that permits standalone audio wills without strict attestation; he warned that the Uniform Electronic Wills Act under consideration in many states requires a visual component and safeguards such as witnessing and attestation. Dash Dejarnet flagged deepfake and synthetic‑voice risks and urged the committee to defer the matter until uniform legislation can be harmonized.
Sponsor and opponents discussed potential compromise: limiting audiovisual materials to video with witness attestation or aligning Montana law with the emerging uniform act. The committee advanced SB411 in executive action later in the day.
