E-Will legalized in Minnesota

(ABC 6 News)- Well there’s a new way to legally file your will in Minnesota. The north star state has become the 13th state to legalize electronic filing of you will.

It’s called the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, and it passed in St. Paul back in March. So now that its official experts say it’s going to be easier, more convenient and less expensive to file your will than ever before.

End of life are never easy but it’s essential. Buy Alec Osland with Yanowitz Law Firm says, “you want to be in control. You’ve worked your entire life for your assists, so you should be able to pick where they go and how is in charge of making sure they end up in the right place.”

Legal experts say there’s no excuse not to have will. And to make it easier writing one up can be done completely online.

“And so really what the law does is. It used to say contracts are one thing, but wills those are different we have to treat wills differently so what this law says is maybe we don’t need to treat wills as differently as you might think,” said Attorney Damien Riehl who now working in legal tech.

The new act allows individuals to file their will from wherever they are. Individuals can use a system similar to the one you see here. You fill out your estate plans online and when it’s time to sign – you still need to have an attorney and witness present. Experts also say it’s a good idea to consult an attorney throughout the process.

“I mean there is a lot of different planning that goes into it with different situations that goes into it. But there could be a lot of tax implications if something is done incorrectly,” said Osland.

Some might have other concerns like fraud. It’s one of the reasons some states haven’t legalized digital estate planning.

“Fraud for signature is very small compared other aspects of things that could go wrong,” said Riehl.

A small tradeoff for providing you peace of mind and peace of mind for you family.

Here in southeastern Minnesota, we often talk about the limited access to things in rural communities well both attorneys I talked with say this new legislation is big win for those who don’t have immediate access to attorneys.