Bill
HB 377
The bill allows electronic wills in NC, authorizes their execution, storage, self-proving status, and certified paper copies, modernizing probate while preserving existing validity
Status & context
- Bill title: Changes to Estates and Trusts Statutes (includes the "North Carolina Uniform Electronic Wills Act")
- Sponsor: Rep. Stevens (principal)
- House actions (selected): Filed/Prefiled Dec 2024; First reading and referrals in Jan–Mar 2025; Committee substitute reported favorably (3/25/2025). Referred to Judiciary 2 and Rules. See legislative history for more dates and committee actions.
- Purpose: Modernize North Carolina wills and probate law by authorizing and regulating execution, storage, conversion, and probate of electronic wills; and to update related elective-share, trust-administration, and year’s-allowance statutes per recommendations of the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section of the NC Bar.
Key provisions — North Carolina Uniform Electronic Wills Act (new Article added to Chapter 31; G.S. 31‑71 — 31‑79)
- Short title: “North Carolina Uniform Electronic Wills Act.”
- Definitions: clarifies terms such as “electronic,” “electronic will,” “record,” “sign,” and “state” for purposes of the Article.
- Execution requirements for an electronic will (G.S. 31‑74):
- Must be recorded in electronic form and readable as text at signing;
- Signed by the testator; and
- Attested by at least two competent witnesses pursuant to existing statutory witness rules (G.S. 31‑3.3).
- Self‑proving: An electronic will may be self‑proved at execution if the testator’s acknowledgment and witnesses’ affidavits occur simultaneously and are appropriately signed/affixed.
- Certified paper copy: A person may create a sworn affidavit certifying that a paper copy is a complete, true, and accurate copy of an electronic will; such a certified paper copy (not the electronic original) may be probated under updated G.S. 28A‑2A‑8(a1).
- Conversion of written wills: An attested (paper) will may be converted to electronic form during the testator’s life by storing an electronic copy with a sworn certification that it accurately reproduces the original; if the original is later lost/destroyed, loss does not, by itself, imply revocation.
- Revocation: Electronic wills may be revoked by the methods already recognized in statute (including physical act) and may revoke prior wills.
- Applicability/interpretation: Electronic wills are treated as wills for all state law purposes, except as modified by the Article; the statute encourages uniformity with other states enacting the Uniform Electronic Wills Act.
- Enforcement/backstop: Electronic wills executed not in strict compliance remain subject to existing statutory remedial provisions (G.S. 31‑46).
Other subject-matter changes (overview)
- The bill also includes (text not fully shown here) updates to:
- Elective-share statutes (surviving spouse rights),
- Trust administration rules, and
- Year’s allowance (allowance to surviving spouse/children) — intended to conform statutes to modern practice and to recommendations from the NC Bar’s estate-planning section.
Who is affected
- Testators, witnesses, attorneys, estate planners, fiduciaries, probate courts, and custodial/electronic‑document service providers.
- Beneficiaries and heirs, who may see changes in how wills are created, stored, converted, and proved in court.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Modernizes estate planning by permitting safe electronic execution and storage of wills, increasing access (especially remote execution).
- May reduce costs and increase convenience but raises legal and practical issues around authentication, cybersecurity, preservation, and cross‑jurisdictional recognition.
- Probate courts and practitioners will need procedures and training to handle electronic wills and certified paper copies.
- The conversion and certified-copy provisions reduce the risk that loss of a paper original automatically causes probate complications.
Procedural/timeline note
- The bill was carried through multiple readings and committee referrals in early 2025; a committee substitute was favorably reported 3/25/2025. Consult the General Assembly status page for the latest progress and any amendments or effective‑date language.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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