HF 244

1st Unofficial Engrossment - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 03/09/2023 10:48am

A bill for an act
relating to uniform laws; adopting the Uniform Electronic Wills Act; making
technical, clarifying, and conforming changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022,
sections 524.1-201; 524.2-504; 524.2-506; 524.2-507; proposing coding for new
law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 524.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.1-201, is amended to read:

524.1-201 GENERAL DEFINITIONS.

Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent articles which are applicable
to specific articles or parts, and unless the context otherwise requires, in chapters 524 and
525:

(1) "Adoptee" means an individual who is adopted.

(2) "Application" means a written request to the registrar for an order of informal probate
or appointment under article III, part 3.

(3) "Assisted reproduction" means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual
intercourse.

(4) "Beneficiary," as it relates to trust beneficiaries, includes a person who has any
present or future interest, vested or contingent, and also includes the owner of an interest
by assignment or other transfer and as it relates to a charitable trust, includes any person
entitled to enforce the trust.

(5) "Birth mother" means a woman who gives birth to a child, including a woman who
is the child's genetic mother and including a woman who gives birth to a child of assisted
reproduction. "Birth mother" does not include a woman who gives birth pursuant to a
gestational agreement.

(6) "Child" includes any individual entitled to take as a child under law by intestate
succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and excludes any person who is
only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant.

(7) "Child of assisted reproduction" means a child conceived by means of assisted
reproduction by a woman other than a child conceived pursuant to a gestational agreement.

(8) "Claims" includes liabilities of the decedent whether arising in contract or otherwise
and liabilities of the estate which arise after the death of the decedent including funeral
expenses and expenses of administration. The term does not include taxes, demands or
disputes regarding title of a decedent to specific assets alleged to be included in the estate,
tort claims, foreclosure of mechanic's liens, or to actions pursuant to section 573.02.

(9) "Court" means the court or branch having jurisdiction in matters relating to the affairs
of decedents. This court in this state is known as the district court.

(10) "Conservator" means a person who is appointed by a court to manage the estate of
a protected person.

(11) "Descendant" of an individual means all of the individual's descendants of all
generations, with the relationship of parent and child at each generation being determined
by the definition of child and parent contained in this section.

(12) "Devise," when used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of real or personal
property and when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will.

(13) "Devisee" means any person designated in a will to receive a devise. In the case of
a devise to an existing trust or trustee, or to a trustee on trust described by will, the trust or
trustee is the devisee and the beneficiaries are not devisees.

(14) "Disability" means cause for appointment of a conservator as described in section
524.5-401, or a protective order as described in section 524.5-412.

(15) "Distributee" means any person who has received or who will receive property of
a decedent from the decedent's personal representative other than as a creditor or purchaser.
A testamentary trustee is a distributee with respect to property which the trustee has received
from a personal representative only to the extent of distributed assets or their increment
remaining in the trustee's hands. A beneficiary of a testamentary trust to whom the trustee
has distributed property received from a personal representative is a distributee of the
personal representative. For purposes of this provision, "testamentary trustee" includes a
trustee to whom assets are transferred by will, to the extent of the devised assets.

(16) "Divorce" includes an annulment, dissolution, and declaration of invalidity of
marriage.

new text begin (17) "Electronic will" means a will or codicil that (i) is created, signed, or maintained
in an electronic, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or other similar medium,
(ii) is retrievable in perceivable form, and (iii) is capable of verification that the writing of
the electronic will has not been altered after its signing.
new text end

deleted text begin (17) deleted text end new text begin (18) new text end "Estate" includes all of the property of the decedent, trust, or other person
whose affairs are subject to this chapter as originally constituted and as it exists from time
to time during administration.

deleted text begin (18) deleted text end new text begin (19) new text end "Fiduciary" includes personal representative, guardian, conservator and trustee.

deleted text begin (19) deleted text end new text begin (20) new text end "Foreign personal representative" means a personal representative of another
jurisdiction.

deleted text begin (20) deleted text end new text begin (21) new text end "Formal proceedings" means those conducted before a judge with notice to
interested persons.

deleted text begin (21) deleted text end new text begin (22) new text end "Functioned as a parent of the child" means behaving toward a child in a manner
consistent with being the child's parent and performing functions that are customarily
performed by a parent, including fulfilling parental responsibilities toward the child,
recognizing or holding out the child as the individual's child, materially participating in the
child's upbringing, and residing with the child in the same household as a regular member
of that household.

deleted text begin (22) deleted text end new text begin (23) new text end "Genetic father" means the man whose sperm fertilized the egg of a child's
genetic mother. If the father-child relationship is established under the presumption of
paternity under chapter 257, "genetic father" means only the man for whom that relationship
is established.

deleted text begin (23) deleted text end new text begin (24) new text end "Genetic mother" means the woman whose egg was fertilized by the sperm of
a child's genetic father.

deleted text begin (24) deleted text end new text begin (25) new text end "Genetic parent" means a child's genetic father or genetic mother.

deleted text begin (25) deleted text end new text begin (26) new text end "Gestational agreement" means an agreement for assisted reproduction in
which a woman agrees to carry a child to birth for an intended parent or intended parents.

deleted text begin (26) deleted text end new text begin (27) new text end "Governing instrument" means a deed; will; trust; insurance or annuity policy;
account with POD designation; security registered in beneficiary form (TOD); transfer on
death (TOD) deed; pension, profit-sharing, retirement, or similar benefit plan; instrument
creating or exercising a power of appointment or a power of attorney; or a dispositive,
appointive, or nominative instrument of any similar type.

deleted text begin (27) deleted text end new text begin (28) new text end "Guardian" means a person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or
incapacitated person pursuant to testamentary or court appointment, but excludes one who
is merely a guardian ad litem.

deleted text begin (28) deleted text end new text begin (29) new text end "Heirs" means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled
under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent.

deleted text begin (29) deleted text end new text begin (30) new text end "Incapacitated person" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 6,
other than a minor.

deleted text begin (30) deleted text end new text begin (31) new text end "Incapacity" when used in sections 524.2-114 to 524.2-120 means the inability
of an individual to function as a parent of a child because of the individual's physical or
mental condition.

deleted text begin (31) deleted text end new text begin (32) new text end "Informal proceedings" means those conducted by the judge, the registrar, or
the person or persons designated by the judge for probate of a will or appointment of a
personal representative in accordance with sections 524.3-301 to 524.3-311.

deleted text begin (32) deleted text end new text begin (33) new text end "Intended parent" means an individual who entered into a gestational agreement
providing that the individual will be the parent of a child born to a woman by means of
assisted reproduction, including an individual who has a genetic relationship with the child.

deleted text begin (33) deleted text end new text begin (34) new text end "Interested person" includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors,
beneficiaries and any others having a property right in or claim against the estate of a
decedent, ward or protected person which may be affected by the proceeding. It also includes
persons having priority for appointment as personal representative, and other fiduciaries
representing interested persons. The meaning as it relates to particular persons may vary
from time to time and must be determined according to the particular purposes of, and matter
involved in, any proceeding.

deleted text begin (34) deleted text end new text begin (35) new text end "Lease" includes an oil, gas, or other mineral lease.

deleted text begin (35) deleted text end new text begin (36) new text end "Letters" includes letters testamentary, letters of guardianship, letters of
administration, and letters of conservatorship.

deleted text begin (36) deleted text end new text begin (37) new text end "Mortgage" means any conveyance, agreement or arrangement in which
property is used as security.

deleted text begin (37) deleted text end new text begin (38) new text end "Nonresident decedent" means a decedent who was domiciled in another
jurisdiction at the time of death.

deleted text begin (38) deleted text end new text begin (39) new text end "Organization" includes a corporation, government or governmental subdivision
or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more persons having
a joint or common interest, or any other legal entity.

deleted text begin (39) deleted text end new text begin (40) new text end "Person" means an individual, a corporation, an organization, or other legal
entity.

deleted text begin (40) deleted text end new text begin (41) new text end "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator, successor personal
representative, special administrator, and persons who perform substantially the same
function under the law governing their status. "General personal representative" excludes
special administrator.

deleted text begin (41) deleted text end new text begin (42) new text end "Petition" means a written request to the court for an order after notice.

new text begin (43) "Presence" or "conscious presence" for purposes of sections 524.2-501 to 524.2-517
means either:
new text end

new text begin (i) an individual being in a physical location in relation to the testator that allows the
individual to see and hear the testator; or
new text end

new text begin (ii) an individual being in a state and communicating simultaneously with the testator
by means of an electronic device or process by sight and sound to substantially the same
extent as if the individual were in a physical location in relation to the testator that would
allow an individual to see and hear the testator, allowing for reasonable accommodation for
individuals with hearing, vision, or speech impairments as necessary.
new text end

deleted text begin (42) deleted text end new text begin (44) new text end "Proceeding" includes action at law and suit in equity.

deleted text begin (43) deleted text end new text begin (45) new text end "Property" includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and
means anything that may be the subject of ownership.

deleted text begin (44) deleted text end new text begin (46) new text end "Protected person" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 14.

deleted text begin (45) deleted text end new text begin (47) new text end "Registrar" refers to the judge of the court or the person designated by the
court to perform the functions of registrar as provided in section 524.1-307.

deleted text begin (46) deleted text end new text begin (48) new text end "Relative" means a grandparent or a descendant of a grandparent.

deleted text begin (47) deleted text end new text begin (49) new text end "Security" includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence
of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease
or in payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate,
transferable share, voting trust certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly
known as a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim
certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or
purchase, any of the foregoing.

deleted text begin (48) deleted text end new text begin (50) new text end "Settlement," in reference to a decedent's estate, includes the full process of
administration, distribution and closing.

new text begin (51) "Signed" or "signing" for testators and witnesses for purposes of sections 524.2-501
to 524.2-517 means either:
new text end

new text begin (i) the physical act of applying a signature or mark on the tangible medium upon which
a writing is located; or
new text end

new text begin (ii) to affix to or to logically associate with a writing an electronic symbol, signature,
mark, or process with the intent to execute, witness, or authenticate the writing.
new text end

deleted text begin (49) deleted text end new text begin (52) new text end "Special administrator" means a personal representative as described by sections
524.3-614 to 524.3-618.

deleted text begin (50) deleted text end new text begin (53) new text end "State" includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative
authority of the United States.

deleted text begin (51) deleted text end new text begin (54) new text end "Successor personal representative" means a personal representative, other
than a special administrator, who is appointed to succeed a previously appointed personal
representative.

deleted text begin (52) deleted text end new text begin (55) new text end "Successors" means those persons, other than creditors, who are entitled to
property of a decedent under the decedent's will, this chapter or chapter 525. "Successors"
also means a funeral director or county government that provides the funeral and burial of
the decedent, or a state or county agency with a claim authorized under section 256B.15.

deleted text begin (53) deleted text end new text begin (56) new text end "Supervised administration" refers to the proceedings described in sections
524.3-501 to 524.3-505.

deleted text begin (54) deleted text end new text begin (57) new text end "Testacy proceeding" means a proceeding to establish a will or determine
intestacy.

deleted text begin (55) deleted text end new text begin (58) new text end "Third-party donor" means an individual who produces eggs or sperm used
for assisted reproduction, whether or not for consideration. The term does not include:

(i) a husband who provides sperm, or a wife who provides eggs, that are used for assisted
reproduction by the wife;

(ii) the birth mother of a child of assisted reproduction; or

(iii) a man who has been determined under section 524.2-120, subdivision 4 or 5, to
have a parent-child relationship with a child of assisted reproduction.

deleted text begin (56) deleted text end new text begin (59) new text end "Trust" includes any express trust, private or charitable, with additions thereto,
wherever and however created. It also includes a trust created or determined by judgment
or decree under which the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust.
"Trust" excludes other constructive trusts, and it excludes resulting trusts, conservatorships,
personal representatives, trust accounts as defined in chapter 528, custodial arrangements
pursuant to sections 149A.97, 318.01 to 318.06, 527.21 to 527.44, business trusts providing
for certificates to be issued to beneficiaries, common trust funds, voting trusts, security
arrangements, liquidation trusts, and trusts for the primary purpose of paying debts, dividends,
interest, salaries, wages, profits, pensions, or employee benefits of any kind, and any
arrangement under which a person is nominee or escrowee for another.

deleted text begin (57) deleted text end new text begin (60) new text end "Trustee" includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not
appointed or confirmed by court.

deleted text begin (58) deleted text end new text begin (61) new text end "Ward" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 17.

deleted text begin (59) deleted text end new text begin (62) new text end "Will" includes new text begin an electronic will, any new text end codicil new text begin to a will or electronic will, new text end and
any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another
will new text begin , electronic will, or codicil new text end .

new text begin (63) "Witnessing" for purposes of sections 524.2-501 to 524.2-517 means observing or
authenticating the testator's signing or acknowledgment of signing a will by individuals in
the presence of the testator at the time of the testator's signing or acknowledgment of signing
the will.
new text end

new text begin (64) "Writing," "written instrument," or "written statement," for purposes of sections
524.1-201 and 524.2-501 to 524.2-517, means any reasonably permanent record that is
readable as text at the time of signing and is retrievable in perceivable form, including any
information that is: (i) inscribed on a tangible medium; or (ii) stored in an electronic, digital,
magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or other similar medium.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-504, is amended to read:

524.2-504 SELF-PROVED WILL.

(a) A will may be contemporaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by
acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made deleted text begin before deleted text end new text begin
in the presence of new text end an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in
which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in
substantially the following form:

I, ................., the testator, sign my name to this instrument this ........ day of .................,
and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and
execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to
sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed,
and that I am 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue
influence.

	.
	Testator

We, ................., ................., the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first
duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and
executes this instrument as the testator's will and that the testator signs it willingly (or
willingly directs another to sign for the testator), and that each of us, in the presence and
hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to
the best of our knowledge the testator is 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under
no constraint or undue influence.

	.
	Witness
	.
	Witness

State of .

County of .

Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged deleted text begin before me deleted text end new text begin in my presence new text end by ................., the
testator, and subscribed and sworn to deleted text begin before me deleted text end new text begin in my presence new text end by ................., and
................., witnesses, this ........ day of ............., .........

(Seal)

	(Signed) .
	.
	(Official capacity of officer)

(b) An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the
acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made deleted text begin before deleted text end new text begin
in the presence of new text end an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in
which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the
official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:

State of .

County of .

We, ................., ................., and ................., the testator and the witnesses, respectively,
whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do
hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the
instrument as the testator's will and that the testator had signed willingly (or willingly
directed another to sign for the testator), and that the testator executed it as the testator's
free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and each of the witnesses, in the
presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of the
witness' knowledge the testator was at the time 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and
under no constraint or undue influence.

	.
	Testator
	.
	Witness
	.
	Witness

Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged deleted text begin before me deleted text end new text begin in my presence new text end by ................., the
testator, and subscribed and sworn to deleted text begin before me deleted text end new text begin in my presence new text end by ................., and
................., witnesses, this ........ day of ..............., .........

(Seal)

	(Signed) .
	.
	(Official capacity of officer)

(c) A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a
signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-506, is amended to read:

524.2-506 CHOICE OF LAW AS TO EXECUTION.

A deleted text begin written deleted text end will is valid if executed in compliance with section 524.2-502 or if its execution
complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the new text begin testator executes the
new text end will deleted text begin is executed deleted text end , or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of
death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode new text begin , new text end or is a national.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-507, is amended to read:

524.2-507 REVOCATION BY WRITING OR BY ACT.

(a) A will or any part thereof is revoked:

(1) by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by
inconsistency; or

(2) by performing a revocatory act deleted text begin on the will deleted text end , if the testator performed the act with the
intent and for the purpose of revoking the will or part or if another individual performed
the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction. For purposes of
this clause, "revocatory act deleted text begin on the will deleted text end " includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating,
or destroying the will or any part of it. A burning, tearing, or canceling may be a "revocatory
act deleted text begin on the will deleted text end ," whether or not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on
the will.

(b) If a subsequent will does not expressly revoke a previous will, the execution of the
subsequent will wholly revokes the previous will by inconsistency if the testator intended
the subsequent will to replace rather than supplement the previous will.

(c) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to replace rather than
supplement a previous will if the subsequent will makes a complete disposition of the
testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing
evidence, the previous will is revoked; only the subsequent will is operative on the testator's
death.

(d) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to supplement rather
than replace a previous will if the subsequent will does not make a complete disposition of
the testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing
evidence, the subsequent will revokes the previous will only to the extent the subsequent
will is inconsistent with the previous will; each will is fully operative on the testator's death
to the extent they are not inconsistent.

Sec. 5.

new text begin [524.2-518] CERTIFICATION OF PAPER COPY.
new text end

new text begin An individual may create a certified paper copy of an electronic will by affirming under
penalty of perjury that a paper copy of the electronic will is a complete, true, and accurate
copy of the electronic will. If the electronic will is made self-proving, the certified paper
copy of the will must include the self-proving affidavits. A certified paper copy of an
electronic will may be substituted for an original will when an original will is required by
this chapter.
new text end