Digital Wills - Welcome to the Future

A question we get often is whether you can sign your Last Will and Testament digitally.   Quick answer – If you live in Florida, Arizona, Nevada or Indiana then the answer is YES!  However, the answer is no for Texas.  In Texas, a will MUST be physically signed in the presence of two disinterested witnesses (meaning two people who are not related to you AND are not a beneficiary or executor in your will) and a notary public. 

Law Stuff 

Did you know there is an act under the Uniform Electronic Wills Act that will allow a testator (the person signing their will) to have an electronic will? Yep! Under this act, the testator can e-sign his/her will. You can digitally/electronically buy and sell a house. Why not have the same ability for your will? Texas has not adopted the law and requires a “wet” signature (meaning you must sign in-person).  

Crypto-Wills 

Financial advisors and banks use secure and encrypted software to protect your information.  Blockchain works similarly to this.  Crypto-wills can be created in blockchain to protect a person’s digital assets. The advantage is that the crypto-will has a time-stamp and cannot be altered. If someone tried to alter the crypto-will, blockchain technology would flag the file. Similar to bitcoin, whoever is listed as the next owner of the digital assets will be the beneficiary to receive them.  

Risks 

Blockchain technology has partnered with Pulse Check. Pulse Check sends you pings each month. If you do not reply to a certain number of pings, the service assumes you have died and your assets are transferred to your beneficiaries.  You have the option of sharing your password or keys with the person you are intending to transfer these assets to.  There is a risk of negligence and theft by sharing this information. Similar to Bitcoin, if you do not tell anyone about the digital assets and do not have a software in place like Pulse Check, you could lose them.  

Another issue to consider would be whether taxes are paid accordingly.  There is also a possibility that a crypto-will may not transfer your real estate properly. 

Texas realizes that there is quite a bit to figure out before jumping on the crypto-will train. As technology advances and more states join in, it will be a matter of time before Texans have the option for a digital will.