LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, JR., Governor Ch. 177
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Chapter 177
(Senate Bill 36)
AN ACT concerning
Wills and Trust Instruments – Electronic Execution
FOR the purpose of authorizing a person to execute an electronic will or remotely witnessed
will without a notary public if the supervising attorney creates a certified will that
contains a certain form attached or annexed to the will; prohibiting a supervising
attorney from being a witness to an electronic will or remotely witnessed will if the
will is executed without a notary public; authorizing a notary public located in the
State to perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely
located individual for a trust instrument; and generally relating to electronically
executed wills and trust instruments.
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Article – Estates and Trusts
Section 4–102
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2017 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement)
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Article – State Government
Section 18–214(a)
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2021 Replacement Volume)
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article – Estates and Trusts
4–102.
(a) Any person may make a will if the person is 18 years of age or older, and
legally competent to make a will.
(b) Except as provided in §§ 4–103 and 4–104 of this subtitle and subsection (f) of
this section, every will shall be:
(1) In writing;
(2) Signed by the testator, or by some other person for the testator, in the
testator’s physical presence and by the testator’s express direction; and
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(3) Attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses in:
(i) The physical presence of the testator; or
(ii) The electronic presence of the testator, provided that an
electronic will or remotely witnessed will satisfies the requirements under subsection (c) or
(d) of this section.
(c) An electronic will or remotely witnessed will executed under this subsection
shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1) At the time the testator and witnesses sign the will, the testator and all
witnesses shall be in the physical presence or electronic presence of one another and a
supervising attorney, who may be one of the witnesses UNLESS THE WILL IS SIGNED,
ACKNOWLEDGED , AND SWORN TO BEFORE THE SUPERVISING ATTORNEY AS
DESCRIBED IN ITEM (5)(III)2 OF THIS SUBSECTION ;
(2) At the time the testator signs the will, the testator shall be a resident
of, or physically located in, the State;
(3) Each witness who is in the electronic presence of the testator when the
witness attests and signs the will, or provides an electronic signature on the will, shall be
a resident of the United States and be physically located in the United States at the time
the witness attests and signs the will;
(4) The testator and witnesses shall sign the same will or any counterpart
thereof; and
(5) The supervising attorney shall create a certified will that shall include:
(i) A true, complete, and accurate paper version of all pages of the
will including the original signatures or electronic signatures of the testator and all
witnesses;
(ii) A signed original paper certification by the supervising attorney
stating the date that the supervising attorney observed the testator and witnesses sign the
will and that the supervising attorney took reasonable steps to verify:
1. That the certified will includes a true, complete, and
accurate paper version of all pages of the will;
2. That the signatures contained in the certified will are the
original signatures of each party signing the same paper will, or any counterpart thereof,
and electronic signatures of each party signing the same electronic will, or any counterpart
thereof;
LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, JR., Governor Ch. 177
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3. That the testator and each of the witnesses signed the
same will or any counterpart thereof;
4. The identity of each witness and that each witness who
was not in the physical presence of the testator when the witness attested and signed the
will, or provided an electronic signature on the will, was a resident of the United States
and physically located in the United States at the time that the witness attested and signed
the will; and
5. The identity of the testator and that the testator was a
resident of, or was physically located in, the State at the time that the testator signed the
will; and
(iii) An acknowledgement of the testator and the affidavits of the
attesting witnesses before [a]:
1. A notary public, under seal, attached or annexed to the
will, in substantially the following form and content:
The State of Maryland.
County of ____________.
Before me, the undersigned [authority/attorney] NOTARY PUBLIC , on this day personally
appeared ____________, ____________, and ____________, known to me to be the testator
and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing
instrument and, all of these persons being by me duly sworn, ____________, the testator,
declared to me and to the witnesses in my physical or electronic presence that the said
instrument is the testator’s will, that the testator is of sound mind, and that the testator
had willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign the will under no constraint or
undue influence, and executed it in the physical or [remote] ELECTRONIC presence of the
witnesses as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that the
witnesses, in the physical or electronic presence and at the request of the testator, signed
the will as witnesses, and that to the best of the witnesses’ knowledge the testator was at
least 18 years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
____________ Testator
____________ Witness
____________ Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by ____________, the testator, and
subscribed and sworn to before me by ____________ and ___________, witnesses, this ______
day of _________, ____.
__________ Seal ____________ Notary Public; OR
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2. THE SUPERVISING ATTOR NEY, ATTACHED OR
ANNEXED TO THE WILL , IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE FOLLOWING FORM AND CONT ENT:
BEFORE ME , THE UNDERSIGNED SUPERVISING ATTORNEY, ON THIS DAY
PERSONALLY APPEARED ____________, ____________, AND ____________, KNOWN TO
ME TO BE THE TESTATO R AND THE WITNESSES , RESPECTIVELY , WHOSE NAMES ARE
SIGNED TO THE ATTACH ED OR FOREGOING INSTRUM ENT, AND THE TESTATOR
DECLARED TO ME AND T O THE WITNESSES IN M Y PHYSICAL OR ELECTR ONIC
PRESENCE THAT THE SA ID INSTRUMENT IS THE TESTATOR’S WILL, THAT THE
TESTATOR IS OF SOUND MIND, AND THAT THE TESTATO R HAD WILLINGLY SIGN ED OR
WILLINGLY DIRECTED A NOTHER TO SIGN THE W ILL UNDER NO CONSTRA INT OR
UNDUE INFLUENCE , AND EXECUTED IT IN T HE PHYSICAL OR ELECT RONIC PRESENCE
OF THE WITNESSES AS A FREE AND VOLUNTARY ACT FOR THE PURPOSES THEREIN
EXPRESSED, AND THAT THE WITNESS ES, IN THE PHYSI CAL OR ELECTRONIC
PRESENCE AND AT THE REQUEST OF THE TESTA TOR, SIGNED THE WILL AS
WITNESSES, AND THAT TO THE BEST OF THE WITNESSES ’ KNOWLEDGE THE
TESTATOR WAS AT LEAS T 18 YEARS OLD, OF SOUND MIND , AND UNDER NO
CONSTRAINT OR UNDUE INFLUENCE.
____________ TESTATOR
____________ WITNESS
____________ WITNESS
SUBSCRIBED, SWORN AND ACKNOWLEDG ED BEFORE ME BY ____________, THE
TESTATOR, AND SUBSCRIBED AND S WORN TO BEFORE ME BY ____________ AND
___________, WITNESSES, THIS ______ DAY OF _________, ____.
____________ SUPERVISING ATTORNEY .
(d) An electronic will or remotely witnessed will executed under this subsection
shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1) At the time the testator and witnesses sign the will, the testator and all
witnesses shall be in the physical presence or electronic presence of one another;
(2) The requirements under subsection (c)(2) through (4) of this section
shall be satisfied; and
(3) The testator shall create a certified will that shall include:
(i) A true, complete, and accurate paper version of all pages of the
will including the original signatures or electronic signatures of the testator and all
witnesses; and LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, JR., Governor Ch. 177
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(ii) An original paper certification signed and acknowledged by the
testator in the physical presence or electronic presence of a notary public, who may not be
one of the witnesses, stating:
1. The date that the testator and witnesses signed the will;
and
2. That the testator took reasonable steps to verify the same
facts and information required under subsection (c)(5)(ii) of this section.
(e) (1) Once the supervising attorney or testator creates a certified will as
provided in subsection (c) or (d) of this section, the certified will shall be deemed to be the
original will of the testator for all purposes under this article.
(2) The date of execution for a certified will described under paragraph (1)
of this subsection shall be the date of execution stated in the certified will.
(f) A will executed in conformance with the provisions of Executive Order
20.04.10.01, authorizing remote witnessing and electronic signing of certain documents,
shall be deemed to have been signed and witnessed in conformity with this section if the
will was signed and witnessed during the time that the executive order was in effect.
Article – State Government
18–214.
(a) [Except for a notarial act being performed with respect to a will, as defined in
§ 1–101 of the Estates and Trusts Article, or a trust instrument, as defined in § 14.5–103
of the Estates and Trusts Article, a] A notary public located in this State may perform a
notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual if:
(1) the notary public:
(i) has personal knowledge under § 18–206(a) of this subtitle of the
identity of the remotely located individual;
(ii) has satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely located
individual by verification on oath or affirmation from a credible witness appearing before
and identified by the notary public under § 18–206(b) of this subtitle or as a remotely
located individual under this section; or
(iii) has obtained satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely
located individual by:
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1. remote presentation of an identification credential
described in § 18–206(b) of this subtitle;
2. credential analysis of the identification credential; and
3. identity proofing of the individual;
(2) the notary public is reasonably able to confirm that a record before the
notary public is the same record in which the remotely located individual made a statement
or on which the individual executed a signature;
(3) the notary public, or person acting on behalf and at the direction of the
notary public, creates an audio–visual recording of the performance of the notarial act; and
(4) for a remotely located individual located outside the United States:
(i) the record:
1. is to be filed with or relates to a matter before a public
official or court, governmental entity, or other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States; or
2. involves property located in the territorial jurisdiction of
the United States or involves a transaction substantially connected with the United States;
and
(ii) the notary public has no actual knowledge that the act of making
the statement or signing the record is prohibited by the foreign state in which the remotely
located individual is located.
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act is an emergency
measure, is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health or safety, has
been passed by a yea and nay vote supported by three–fifths of all the members elected to
each of the two Houses of the General Assembly, and shall take effect from the date it is
enacted.
Approved by the Governor, April 21, 2022.