21.0168.02000
Sixty-seventh
Legislative Assembly HOUSE BILL NO. 1077
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Judiciary Committee
(At the request of the Commission on Uniform State Laws)
1 A BILL for an Act to create and enact chapter 30.1-37 of the North Dakota Century Code,
2 relating to the Uniform Electronic Wills Act; and to provide for application.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
4 SECTION 1. Chapter 30.1-37 of the North Dakota Century Code is created and enacted as
5 follows:
6 30.1-37-01. Definitions.
7 As used in this chapter:
8 1. "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless,
9 optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
10 2. "Electronic will" means a will executed electronically in compliance with subsection 1
11 of section 30.1-37-04.
12 3. "Record" means information inscribed on a tangible medium or stored in an electronic
13 or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
14 4. "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record to:
15 a. Execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
16 b. Affix to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol or process.
17 5. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the
18 United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
19 jurisdiction of the United States. The term includes a federally recognized Indian tribe.
20 6. "Will" includes a codicil and any testamentary instrument that merely appoints an
21 executor, revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian, or expressly excludes
22 or limits the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent
23 passing by intestate succession.
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1 30.1-37-02. Law applicable to electronic will - Principles of equity.
2 An electronic will is a will for all purposes of the law of this state. The law of this state
3 applicable to wills and principles of equity apply to an electronic will, except as modified by this
4 chapter.
5 30.1-37-03. Choice of law regarding execution.
6 A will executed electronically but not in compliance with subsection 1 of section 30.1-37-04
7 is an electronic will under this chapter if executed in compliance with the law of the jurisdiction
8 where the testator is:
9 1. Physically located when the will is signed; or
10 2. Domiciled or resides when the will is signed or when the testator dies.
11 30.1-37-04. Execution of electronic will.
12 1. Subject to subsection 4 of section 30.1-37-06, an electronic will must be:
13 a. A record that is readable as text at the time of signing as provided under
14 subdivision b;
15 b. Signed by:
16 (1) The testator; or
17 (2) Another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's conscious
18 presence, and by the testator's direction; and
19 c. Either:
20 (1) Signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable
21 time after witnessing:
22 (a) The signing of the will as provided under subdivision b; or
23 (b) The testator's acknowledgment of the signature as provided under
24 subdivision b or acknowledgment of the will; or
25 (2) Acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual
26 authorized by law to take acknowledgments.
27 2. Intent of a testator that the record under subdivision a of subsection 1 be the testator's
28 electronic will may be established by extrinsic evidence.
29 30.1-37-05. Revocation.
30 1. An electronic will may revoke all or part of a previous will.
31 2. All or part of an electronic will is revoked by:
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1 a. A subsequent will that revokes all or part of the electronic will expressly or by
2 inconsistency; or
3 b. A physical act, if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the
4 testator, with the intent of revoking all or part of the will, performed the act or
5 directed another individual who performed the act in the testator's physical
6 presence.
7 30.1-37-06. Electronic will attested and made self-proving at time of execution.
8 1. An electronic will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving by
9 acknowledgment of the testator and affidavits of the witnesses.
10 2. The acknowledgment and affidavits under subsection 1 must be:
11 a. Made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under law of the state in
12 which execution occurs; and
13 b. Evidenced by the officer's certificate under official seal affixed to or logically
14 associated with the electronic will.
15 3. The acknowledgment and affidavits under subsection 1 must be in substantially the
16 following form:
17 STATE OF ____________________
18 COUNTY OF ____________________
19 I, ______________________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this
20 __________ day of _______, _____, and being first sworn, declare to the undersigned
21 authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my electronic will and that I sign it
22 willingly or willingly direct another to sign for me, that I execute it as my free and
23 voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am 18 years of age or
24 older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
25 ______________________________
26 Testator
27 We, __________________, _________________, the witnesses, sign our
28 names to this instrument, and being first sworn, declare to the undersigned authority
29 that the testator signs and executes this instrument as the testator's electronic will and
30 that the testator signs it willingly or willingly directs another to sign for the testator, and
31 that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signs this electronic will as
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1 witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is
2 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
3 ______________________________
4 Witness
5 ______________________________
6 Witness
7 Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by __________, the testator,
8 and subscribed and sworn to before me by ___________ and __________,
9 witnesses, this ________ day of ________________.
10 (SEAL) (Signed)______________________________
11 ______________________________
12 (Official capacity of officer)
13 4. A signature physically or electronically affixed to an affidavit that is affixed to or
14 logically associated with an electronic will under this chapter is deemed a signature of
15 the electronic will under subsection 1 of section 30.1-37-04.
16 30.1-37-07. Certification of paper copy.
17 An individual may create a certified paper copy of an electronic will by affirming under
18 penalty of perjury that a paper copy of the electronic will is a complete, true, and accurate copy
19 of the electronic will. If the electronic will is made self-proving, the certified paper copy of the will
20 must include the self-proving affidavits.
21 SECTION 2. APPLICATION. This Act applies to the will of a decedent who dies after
22 July 31, 2021.
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