Committee advances bill to allow electronic estate-planning documents beyond wills
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Summary
Senate File 3602 would allow non-testamentary estate-planning documents — trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives — to be signed, witnessed, notarized and maintained electronically; sponsors and bar/uniform-law commissioners said the measure improves access and includes security safeguards such as visual/audio notarization and audit trails.
Senator Westlund presented Senate File 3602, which follows the 2023 enactment of Minnesota's electronic wills law and would extend electronic execution to other estate-planning documents such as revocable trusts, powers of attorney and health-care directives.
Kim Lowe, a commissioner with the Uniform Law Commission, said the model Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act supplements the Uniform Electronic Wills Act and has been adopted in several states. "We think it's a good act for Minnesota," Lowe told the committee.
Estate-planning attorney Cameron Kelly described practical barriers for clients who are hospitalized or live far from legal services and said electronic documents reduce that access gap. Kelly and Lowe explained safeguards: electronic-signature definitions require an electronic symbol or process executed with intent to sign; when witnessing or notarization is required the act calls for simultaneous visual and audio contact and audit trails (for example, DocuSign or Adobe systems that retain signed timestamps and modification histories).
Committee members asked about fraud and whether the new statutory regime is more susceptible to abuse than in-person execution. Lowe and Kelly said existing electronic-signature statutes and notarial procedures reduce fraud risks; Kelly noted the requirement for witnesses or remote notarization with visual and audio contact for many documents.
Senate File 3602 was recommended to pass and was re-referred to the Senate floor.