Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 6001 (2020S6)

Sponsor

Rep. Snow, V. L.

Final action

Governor Signed 8/31/2020

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• amends provisions related to disqualifying notarial acts;
• creates definitions;
• establishes the applicability of electronic wills;
• addresses the effect of a will electronically executed in another jurisdiction;
• sets requirements for executing and revoking an electronic will;
• addresses records that are not executed in compliance with the requirements for an electronic will;
• provides requirements for an electronic will to be self-proving;
• allows for certified paper copies of an electronic will;
• addresses uniformity of the law; and
• provides that the Uniform Electronic Wills Act applies to wills of decedents who die on or after the effective date of this bill.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

UNIFORM ELECTRONIC WILLS ACT
SIXTH SPECIAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: V. Lowry Snow
Senate Sponsor: 
Lyle W. Hillyard
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill enacts the Uniform Electronic Wills Act.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ amends provisions related to disqualifying notarial acts;
▸ creates definitions;
▸ establishes the applicability of electronic wills;
▸ addresses the effect of a will electronically executed in another jurisdiction;
▸ sets requirements for executing and revoking an electronic will;
▸ addresses records that are not executed in compliance with the requirements for an
electronic will;
▸ provides requirements for an electronic will to be self-proving;
▸ allows for certified paper copies of an electronic will;
▸ addresses uniformity of the law; and
▸ provides that the Uniform Electronic Wills Act applies to wills of decedents who
die on or after the effective date of this bill.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This bill provides a special effective date.
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
46-1-7
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 259
ENACTS:
75-2-1401
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1402
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1403
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1404
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1405
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1406
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1407
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1408
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1409
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1410
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
75-2-1411
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
46-1-7
 is amended to read:
46-1-7.
Disqualifications.
A notary may not perform a notarial act if the notary:
(1) is a signer of the document that is to be notarized
,
 except [
in case of
] 
for:
(a)
 a self-proved will as provided in Section 
75-2-504
; 
or
(b) a self-proved electronic will as provided in Section 
75-2-1408
;
(2) is named in the document that is to be notarized except [
in the case of a
] 
for
:
(a) 
a
 self-proved will as provided in Section 
75-2-504
;
(b) a self-proved electronic will as provided in Section 
75-2-1408
;
[
(b)
] 
(c) a
 licensed attorney that is listed in the document only as representing a signer
or another person named in the document; or
[
(c)
] 
(d) a
 licensed escrow agent, as defined in Section 
31A-1-301
, that:
(i) acts as the title insurance producer in signing closing documents; and
(ii) is not named individually in the closing documents as a grantor, grantee,
mortgagor, mortgagee, trustor, trustee, vendor, vendee, lessor, lessee, buyer, or seller;
(3) will receive direct compensation from a transaction connected with a financial
transaction in which the notary is named individually as a principal; or
(4) will receive direct compensation from a real property transaction in which the
notary is named individually as a grantor, grantee, mortgagor, mortgagee, trustor, trustee,
beneficiary, vendor, vendee, lessor, lessee, buyer, or seller.
Section 2. Section 
75-2-1401
 is enacted to read:
Part 14. Uniform Electronic Wills Act
 75-2-1401.
Title.
This part is known as the "Uniform Electronic Wills Act."
Section 3. Section 
75-2-1402
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1402.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic,
wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(2) "Electronic presence" means the relationship of two or more individuals in different
locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically
present in the same location.
(3) "Electronic will" means a will executed electronically in compliance with
Subsection 
75-2-1405
(1).
(4) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored
in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(5) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(a) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(b) to affix to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol or process.
(6) (a) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States.
(b) "State" includes a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(7) "Will" includes a codicil and any testamentary instrument that merely appoints an
executor, revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian, or expressly excludes or limits
the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate
succession.
Section 4. Section 
75-2-1403
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1403.
Law applicable to electronic will -- Principles of equity.
(1) An electronic will is a will for all purposes of the law of this state.
(2) The law of this state applicable to wills and principles of equity apply to an
electronic will, except as modified by this part.
Section 5. Section 
75-2-1404
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1404.
Choice of law regarding execution.
A will executed electronically but not in compliance with Subsection 
75-2-1405
(1) is
an electronic will under this part if executed in compliance with the law of the jurisdiction
where the testator is:
(1) physically located when the will is signed; or
(2) domiciled or resides when the will is signed or when the testator dies.
Section 6. Section 
75-2-1405
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1405.
Execution of an electronic will.
(1) Subject to Subsection 
75-2-1408
(4) and except as provided in Section 
75-2-1406
,
an electronic will shall be:
(a) a record that is readable as text at the time of signing under Subsection (1)(b);
(b) signed:
(i) by the testator; or
(ii) in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence
and by the testator's direction; and
(c) signed in the physical or electronic presence of the testator by at least two
individuals within a reasonable time after witnessing:
(i) the signing of the will under Subsection (1)(b); or
(ii) the testator's acknowledgment of the signing of the will under Subsection (1)(b) or
the testator's acknowledgment of the will.
(2) Intent of a testator that the record under Subsection (1)(a) be the testator's electronic
will may be established by extrinsic evidence.
Section 7. Section 
75-2-1406
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1406.
Harmless error.
Section 
75-2-503
 applies to a will executed electronically.
Section 8. Section 
75-2-1407
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1407.
Revocation.
(1) An electronic will may revoke all or part of a previous will.
(2) All or part of an electronic will is revoked by:
(a) a subsequent will that revokes all or part of the electronic will expressly or by
inconsistency; or
(b) a physical act if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the
testator, with the intent of revoking all or part of the will, performed the act or directed another
individual who performed the act in the testator's physical presence.
Section 9. Section 
75-2-1408
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1408.
Electronic will attested and made self-proving at time of execution.
(1) An electronic will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving
by acknowledgment of the testator and affidavits of the witnesses.
(2) The acknowledgment and affidavits under Subsection (1) shall be:
(a) made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under law of the state in
which execution occurs, regardless of whether that officer is also a witness to the electronic
will; and
(b) evidenced by the officer's certificate under official seal affixed to or logically
associated with the electronic will.
(3) The acknowledgment and affidavits under Subsection (1) shall be in substantially
the following form:
I, ____________, the testator, and, being sworn, declare to the undersigned officer that
I sign this instrument as my electronic will, I willingly sign this instrument or willingly direct
another individual to sign this instrument for me, I execute it as my voluntary act for the
purposes expressed in this instrument, and I am 18 years old or older, of sound mind, and under
no constraint or undue influence.
____________
Testator
We, ____________ and ____________, the witnesses, being sworn, declare to the
undersigned officer that the testator signed this instrument as the testator's electronic will, that
the testator willingly signed this instrument or willingly directed another individual to sign for
the testator, and that each of us, in the physical or electronic presence of the testator, signs this
instrument as witness to the testator's signing, and to the best of our knowledge the testator is
years old or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
___________
Witness
___________
Witness
Certificate of officer:
State of ____________
County of ___________
Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by ___________, the testator, and
subscribed and sworn to before me by ____________ and ____________, witnesses, this
_________ day of __________, ____.
____________
Signed
____________
Capacity of Officer
(4) A signature physically or electronically affixed to an affidavit that is affixed to or
logically associated with an electronic will under this part is deemed a signature of the
electronic will under Subsection 
75-2-1405
(1).
(5) To the extent that this section conflicts with Title 46, Chapter 1, Notaries Public
Reform Act, this section supersedes Title 46, Chapter 1, Notaries Public Reform Act.
Section 10. Section 
75-2-1409
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1409.
Certification of paper copy.
(1) An individual may create a certified paper copy of an electronic will by affirming
under penalty of perjury that a paper copy of the electronic will is a complete, true, and
accurate copy of the electronic will.
(2) If the electronic will is made self-proving, the certified paper copy of the will shall
include the self-proving affidavits.
Section 11. Section 
75-2-1410
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1410.
Uniformity of application and construction.
In applying and construing this part, consideration shall be given to the need to promote
uniformity of the law with respect to the subject matter of this uniform act among states that
enact this uniform act.
Section 12. Section 
75-2-1411
 is enacted to read:
 75-2-1411.
Transitional provision.
This part applies to the will of a decedent who dies on or after the effective date of this
part.
Section 13. 
Effective date.
If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
Constitution, Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto
override.