Electronic Wills in the Era of Coronavirus

Arizona is one of the forward-thinking states authorizing some sort of electronic signing of wills. So what is the status of electronic wills in the era of coronavirus concerns? Turns out it’s not yet ready for the real world. Arizona (and most of the other states at the forefront) still requires witnesses to be physically present with the signer. That defeats the central value of allowing a signer to remain completely isolated. And it’s worse than that. If you’re thinking that family members or the people you name in your documents could be your witnesses — in order to minimize contact with outsiders — that’s a problem under Arizona law. Each document has different requirements, but you can create problems by having family and friends as the witnesses to your estate planning documents. Join us for this podcast episode, in which we talk with Prof. Gerry Beyer from Texas Tech College of Law. Prof. Beyer is a noted national authority on electronic wills, and he explains some of the limitations to the use of electronic wills in the era of coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic.