ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home ABA Banking Journal

E-Sign on the Dotted Line?

March 29, 2019
Reading Time: 3 mins read
E-Sign on the Dotted Line?

By Colin Korzec

Nearly 77 percent of the US population owns a smartphone. Nearly 75 percent of the US population own a desktop or laptop, while nearly half own a tablet. In a world where over half of Americans pay their bills online and a whopping 96 percent of Americans shop online, it isn’t a stretch to say that Americans are hooked on technology.

But have you ever wondered how you are able to “sign” for online transactions in a legally binding manner—for instance, when you open a new brokerage account or when you borrow money and execute all the paperwork online? Why is it then that we are all still required to physically sign certain documents—like your last will and testament? Let’s first look at how the current laws regarding online transactions have come to be.

In 2000, Congress enacted the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce, or E-Sign, Act to facilitate the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in interstate commerce by ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically. In addition to the E-Sign Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act was drafted by the Uniform Law Commission in 1999. The ULC was established in 1892 and is comprised of legal scholars and practitioners. The ULC provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. UETA does not, however, apply to a transaction to the extent it is governed by a law governing the creation and execution of wills, codicils or testamentary trusts.

The ULC has recently started drafting a new piece of legislation to address the issue of electronic wills in light of the continued advancements in technology and the ability to transact everyday financial transactions online thus raising the question of when will your last will and testament be online?

The Drafting Committee on Electronic Wills will draft a uniform act or model law addressing the formation, validity and recognition of electronic wills, with appropriate technology-based safeguards to ensure the integrity of these documents for admission to probate.

What are the concerns with an electronic will?

In order to make a valid will, most states require the testator to satisfy three main formalities: (1) the will must be in the form of a writing; (2) the will must be signed by the testator; and (3) the will must be signed by at least two witnesses, who attest to the testator’s signature. These three main execution formalities have remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years. Why the need for such formalities? They are principally intended to provide evidence of the testator’s intent, underscore the significance of creating a will and to help ensure there is no fraud or duress during the process.

In the digital age, however, when many other significant transactions can be made electronically—including the creation of accounts that pass wealth outside of the probate process (think “payable on death accounts” or individual retirement accounts)—the question arises whether the formalities surrounding the creation of a valid will should adapt to accommodate digital execution.

The statutory electronic will

The first state in the country to pass a statutory electronic wills law was Nevada. It is interesting to note that Nevada passed its statute back in 2001. Nevada’s law requires the testator’s electronic signature and at least one “authentication characteristic”—defined as a “fingerprint, a retinal scan, voice recognition, facial recognition, a digitized signature or other authentication using a unique characteristic of the person.” Since then (and really only very recently) Arizona and Indiana passed electronic wills legislation.

While it seemed Florida would be the next to take the leap of modernizing the probate laws, the effort ended in June of last year when then-Gov. Rick Scott vetoed proposed legislation regarding electronic wills. The bill had sought to allow testators to sign wills or trusts electronically—simply by typing his or her name. In his veto letter, Scott expressed the importance of finding “the right balance between providing safeguards to protect the will-making process from exploitation and fraud while also incorporating technological options that make wills financially accessible.”

The electronic wills wave is undoubtedly coming. This wave will certainly carry some practical challenges along with it, but in this ever evolving digital age, the evolution in this area seems inevitable.

What are the implications for banks or corporate fiduciaries? That depends on the specifics of any uniform act, but one can certainly imagine the day of holding client’s estate planning documents in physical form—often in bank vaults—is likely coming to an end. Whether that end is 10 years or 20 years remains to be seen, but banks should begin to plan ahead for the day when they may need to store client’s wills electronically. And they need to make further plans for how they may need to record any “authentication characteristics” that may be required.

At a minimum, banks will want to ensure they are following the efforts underway to craft a uniform electronic wills law. The wave is coming, and we all need to be prepared.

Colin Korzec is managing director and estate settlement national executive at U.S. Trust, Bank of America’s private wealth management division.

ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: Trust activities
ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

Senate Democrats seek proposals for regulatory changes following recent bank closures

Stablecoin bill clears Senate

Newsbytes
June 17, 2025

The Senate voted in favor of legislation to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, with proposed amendments to establish routing mandates and interest rate caps for credit cards left out of the final bill.

Is deepfake technology shifting the gold standard of authentication?

Will fraud prevention ever be autonomous?

Technology
June 17, 2025

Anti-fraud systems are learning to anticipate fraud rather than merely react to it. Better anticipatory abilities inch systems closer to full automation.

CFPB claims ‘complex’ pricing drives up cost of financial products

ABA, associations reiterate concerns about CFPB nonbank registry

Compliance and Risk
June 16, 2025

ABA joined two associations in reiterating their concerns about the CFPB’s nonbank registry, which the current bureau leadership has proposed to eliminate.

Survey: Banks boosting cybersecurity due to AI while also investing in technology

Survey: Banks boosting cybersecurity due to AI while also investing in technology

Cybersecurity
June 13, 2025

Most U.S. banks are increasing their cybersecurity efforts because of emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, and many of those same banks also list AI as a top business investment, according to a recent survey by auditing...

Survey finds high customer satisfaction with banking apps

Survey finds high customer satisfaction with banking apps

Newsbytes
June 12, 2025

Overall satisfaction with U.S. national banking apps is 669 on a 1,000-point scale, up 18 points from 2024. At the same time, the gap in satisfaction between best-performing and lowest-performing apps and bank websites shrunk to its lowest...

Fintech startup focused on asset risk builds bank advisory board, gets Citi Ventures funding

Report: Fintech firms show strong fundamentals, growth

Newsbytes
June 10, 2025

According to the report’s analysts, investors are demanding greater maturity, and regulators want more accountability. In addition, fintech firms are adopting next-generation technologies, pushing innovation and forcing other fintech firms and banks to keep up. Of the $378...

NEWSBYTES

Treasury official outlines principles for Bank Secrecy Act modernization

June 18, 2025

Report: Bank merger activity continues at steady pace

June 18, 2025

CFPB proposes ending using civil penalty funds for consumer education, financial literacy

June 18, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

AI Compliance and Regulation: What Financial Institutions Need to Know

Unlocking Deposit Growth: How Financial Institutions Can Activate Data for Precision Cross-Sell

June 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025
Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

March 15, 2025

PODCASTS

Podcast: Staying close to clients amid tariff-driven volatility

June 18, 2025

Podcast: Old National’s Jim Ryan on the things that really matter

June 12, 2025

Podcast: What bankers need to know about ‘First Amendment audits’

June 5, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.