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Lawyers warn of fraud risk as committee hears bill to accept recorded wills
Summary
Sen. Daniel Zolnikov’s bill would allow audio, visual or audiovisual recordings to be treated as wills; estate-planning attorneys warned the committee the draft lacks adequate authentication and witness safeguards and urged adoption of the Uniform Electronic Wills Act or a delayed effective date to fix gaps.
Sen. Daniel Zolnikov introduced a bill to allow audio, visual and audiovisual recordings to serve as wills. He said legal drafters were working on amendments to address concerns about authentication and fraud and proposed an effective date delay as an option.
Multiple estate‑planning attorneys testified in opposition. Keith Tokarud, a Great Falls estate lawyer, said current will law relies on written form and in‑person witnessing to protect testators from…
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