The Right to (Not) Make an Electronic Will: The Case of Nevada

Abstract

In 2001, the US state of Nevada became the first in the world to issue regulations directly introducing electronic wills into the legal system. This article provides a brief historical overview of this regulation, as well as the practice of preparing them (or rather the lack thereof) for many years after their introduction. In July 2019, the Uniform Law Commission (Electronic Wills Committee) completed work on the framework for the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, which can be easily adopted by all states. This Act covers the basic regulations necessary for preparing electronic wills, omitting the more controversial and extensive ones found in the Nevada Revised Statutes and leaving states free to choose some of the proposed solutions. The approval of the Uniform Electronic Wills Act and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated isolation undoubtedly contributed to the increased interest of state legislatures in electronic wills, as well as the acceleration of work on related legislation. The pos sibility of witnesses participating in the preparation of a will without being personally present but rather using remote attestation using audiovisual communication turned out to be particularly attractive. The list of states explicitly regulating the form of electronic wills has begun to grow, and at the same time, mentions of the first electronic wills being prepared have begun to appear.