1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to uniform laws; adopting the Uniform Electronic Wills Act; making
1.3 technical, clarifying, and conforming changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022,
1.4 sections 524.1-201; 524.2-504; 524.2-506; 524.2-507; proposing coding for new
1.5 law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 524.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.1-201, is amended to read:
1.8 524.1-201 GENERAL DEFINITIONS.
1.9 Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent articles which are applicable
1.10to specific articles or parts, and unless the context otherwise requires, in chapters 524 and
1.11525:
1.12 (1) "Adoptee" means an individual who is adopted.
1.13 (2) "Application" means a written request to the registrar for an order of informal probate
1.14or appointment under article III, part 3.
1.15 (3) "Assisted reproduction" means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual
1.16intercourse.
1.17 (4) "Beneficiary," as it relates to trust beneficiaries, includes a person who has any
1.18present or future interest, vested or contingent, and also includes the owner of an interest
1.19by assignment or other transfer and as it relates to a charitable trust, includes any person
1.20entitled to enforce the trust.
1.21 (5) "Birth mother" means a woman who gives birth to a child, including a woman who
1.22is the child's genetic mother and including a woman who gives birth to a child of assisted
1Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT
14
Printed
Page No.State of Minnesota
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. F. No. 244
NINETY-THIRD SESSION
Authored by Feist01/11/2023
The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law
Adoption of Report: Placed on the General Register01/19/2023
Read for the Second Time
Calendar for the Day02/09/2023
Read for the Third Time
Passed by the House and transmitted to the Senate
Passed by the Senate as Amended and returned to the House03/22/2023
The House concurred in the Senate Amendments03/27/2023
Read Third Time as Amended by the Senate
Repassed the bill as Amended by the Senate 2.1reproduction. "Birth mother" does not include a woman who gives birth pursuant to a
2.2gestational agreement.
2.3 (6) "Child" includes any individual entitled to take as a child under law by intestate
2.4succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and excludes any person who is
2.5only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant.
2.6 (7) "Child of assisted reproduction" means a child conceived by means of assisted
2.7reproduction by a woman other than a child conceived pursuant to a gestational agreement.
2.8 (8) "Claims" includes liabilities of the decedent whether arising in contract or otherwise
2.9and liabilities of the estate which arise after the death of the decedent including funeral
2.10expenses and expenses of administration. The term does not include taxes, demands or
2.11disputes regarding title of a decedent to specific assets alleged to be included in the estate,
2.12tort claims, foreclosure of mechanic's liens, or to actions pursuant to section 573.02.
2.13 (9) "Court" means the court or branch having jurisdiction in matters relating to the affairs
2.14of decedents. This court in this state is known as the district court.
2.15 (10) "Conservator" means a person who is appointed by a court to manage the estate of
2.16a protected person.
2.17 (11) "Descendant" of an individual means all of the individual's descendants of all
2.18generations, with the relationship of parent and child at each generation being determined
2.19by the definition of child and parent contained in this section.
2.20 (12) "Devise," when used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of real or personal
2.21property and when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will.
2.22 (13) "Devisee" means any person designated in a will to receive a devise. In the case of
2.23a devise to an existing trust or trustee, or to a trustee on trust described by will, the trust or
2.24trustee is the devisee and the beneficiaries are not devisees.
2.25 (14) "Disability" means cause for appointment of a conservator as described in section
2.26524.5-401, or a protective order as described in section 524.5-412.
2.27 (15) "Distributee" means any person who has received or who will receive property of
2.28a decedent from the decedent's personal representative other than as a creditor or purchaser.
2.29A testamentary trustee is a distributee with respect to property which the trustee has received
2.30from a personal representative only to the extent of distributed assets or their increment
2.31remaining in the trustee's hands. A beneficiary of a testamentary trust to whom the trustee
2.32has distributed property received from a personal representative is a distributee of the
2Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 3.1personal representative. For purposes of this provision, "testamentary trustee" includes a
3.2trustee to whom assets are transferred by will, to the extent of the devised assets.
3.3 (16) "Divorce" includes an annulment, dissolution, and declaration of invalidity of
3.4marriage.
3.5 (17) "Electronic will" means a will or codicil that (i) is created, signed, or maintained
3.6in an electronic, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or other similar medium,
3.7(ii) is retrievable in perceivable form, and (iii) is capable of verification that the writing of
3.8the electronic will has not been altered after its signing.
3.9 (17) (18) "Estate" includes all of the property of the decedent, trust, or other person
3.10whose affairs are subject to this chapter as originally constituted and as it exists from time
3.11to time during administration.
3.12 (18) (19) "Fiduciary" includes personal representative, guardian, conservator and trustee.
3.13 (19) (20) "Foreign personal representative" means a personal representative of another
3.14jurisdiction.
3.15 (20) (21) "Formal proceedings" means those conducted before a judge with notice to
3.16interested persons.
3.17 (21) (22) "Functioned as a parent of the child" means behaving toward a child in a manner
3.18consistent with being the child's parent and performing functions that are customarily
3.19performed by a parent, including fulfilling parental responsibilities toward the child,
3.20recognizing or holding out the child as the individual's child, materially participating in the
3.21child's upbringing, and residing with the child in the same household as a regular member
3.22of that household.
3.23 (22) (23) "Genetic father" means the man whose sperm fertilized the egg of a child's
3.24genetic mother. If the father-child relationship is established under the presumption of
3.25paternity under chapter 257, "genetic father" means only the man for whom that relationship
3.26is established.
3.27 (23) (24) "Genetic mother" means the woman whose egg was fertilized by the sperm of
3.28a child's genetic father.
3.29 (24) (25) "Genetic parent" means a child's genetic father or genetic mother.
3.30 (25) (26) "Gestational agreement" means an agreement for assisted reproduction in
3.31which a woman agrees to carry a child to birth for an intended parent or intended parents.
3Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 4.1 (26) (27) "Governing instrument" means a deed; will; trust; insurance or annuity policy;
4.2account with POD designation; security registered in beneficiary form (TOD); transfer on
4.3death (TOD) deed; pension, profit-sharing, retirement, or similar benefit plan; instrument
4.4creating or exercising a power of appointment or a power of attorney; or a dispositive,
4.5appointive, or nominative instrument of any similar type.
4.6 (27) (28) "Guardian" means a person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or
4.7incapacitated person pursuant to testamentary or court appointment, but excludes one who
4.8is merely a guardian ad litem.
4.9 (28) (29) "Heirs" means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled
4.10under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent.
4.11 (29) (30) "Incapacitated person" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 6,
4.12other than a minor.
4.13 (30) (31) "Incapacity" when used in sections 524.2-114 to 524.2-120 means the inability
4.14of an individual to function as a parent of a child because of the individual's physical or
4.15mental condition.
4.16 (31) (32) "Informal proceedings" means those conducted by the judge, the registrar, or
4.17the person or persons designated by the judge for probate of a will or appointment of a
4.18personal representative in accordance with sections 524.3-301 to 524.3-311.
4.19 (32) (33) "Intended parent" means an individual who entered into a gestational agreement
4.20providing that the individual will be the parent of a child born to a woman by means of
4.21assisted reproduction, including an individual who has a genetic relationship with the child.
4.22 (33) (34) "Interested person" includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors,
4.23beneficiaries and any others having a property right in or claim against the estate of a
4.24decedent, ward or protected person which may be affected by the proceeding. It also includes
4.25persons having priority for appointment as personal representative, and other fiduciaries
4.26representing interested persons. The meaning as it relates to particular persons may vary
4.27from time to time and must be determined according to the particular purposes of, and matter
4.28involved in, any proceeding.
4.29 (34) (35) "Lease" includes an oil, gas, or other mineral lease.
4.30 (35) (36) "Letters" includes letters testamentary, letters of guardianship, letters of
4.31administration, and letters of conservatorship.
4.32 (36) (37) "Mortgage" means any conveyance, agreement or arrangement in which
4.33property is used as security.
4Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 5.1 (37) (38) "Nonresident decedent" means a decedent who was domiciled in another
5.2jurisdiction at the time of death.
5.3 (38) (39) "Organization" includes a corporation, government or governmental subdivision
5.4or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more persons having
5.5a joint or common interest, or any other legal entity.
5.6 (39) (40) "Person" means an individual, a corporation, an organization, or other legal
5.7entity.
5.8 (40) (41) "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator, successor personal
5.9representative, special administrator, and persons who perform substantially the same
5.10function under the law governing their status. "General personal representative" excludes
5.11special administrator.
5.12 (41) (42) "Petition" means a written request to the court for an order after notice.
5.13 (43) "Presence" or "conscious presence" for purposes of sections 524.2-501 to 524.2-517
5.14means either:
5.15 (i) an individual being in a physical location in relation to the testator that allows the
5.16individual to see and hear the testator; or
5.17 (ii) an individual being in a state and communicating simultaneously with the testator
5.18by means of an electronic device or process by sight and sound to substantially the same
5.19extent as if the individual were in a physical location in relation to the testator that would
5.20allow an individual to see and hear the testator, allowing for reasonable accommodation for
5.21individuals with hearing, vision, or speech impairments as necessary.
5.22 (42) (44) "Proceeding" includes action at law and suit in equity.
5.23 (43) (45) "Property" includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and
5.24means anything that may be the subject of ownership.
5.25 (44) (46) "Protected person" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 14.
5.26 (45) (47) "Registrar" refers to the judge of the court or the person designated by the
5.27court to perform the functions of registrar as provided in section 524.1-307.
5.28 (46) (48) "Relative" means a grandparent or a descendant of a grandparent.
5.29 (47) (49) "Security" includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence
5.30of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease
5.31or in payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate,
5.32transferable share, voting trust certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly
5Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 6.1known as a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim
6.2certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or
6.3purchase, any of the foregoing.
6.4 (48) (50) "Settlement," in reference to a decedent's estate, includes the full process of
6.5administration, distribution and closing.
6.6 (51) "Signed" or "signing" for testators and witnesses for purposes of sections 524.2-501
6.7to 524.2-517 means either:
6.8 (i) the physical act of applying a signature or mark on the tangible medium upon which
6.9a writing is located; or
6.10 (ii) to affix to or to logically associate with a writing an electronic symbol, signature,
6.11mark, or process with the intent to execute, witness, or authenticate the writing.
6.12 (49) (52) "Special administrator" means a personal representative as described by sections
6.13524.3-614 to 524.3-618.
6.14 (50) (53) "State" includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
6.15Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative
6.16authority of the United States.
6.17 (51) (54) "Successor personal representative" means a personal representative, other
6.18than a special administrator, who is appointed to succeed a previously appointed personal
6.19representative.
6.20 (52) (55) "Successors" means those persons, other than creditors, who are entitled to
6.21property of a decedent under the decedent's will, this chapter or chapter 525. "Successors"
6.22also means a funeral director or county government that provides the funeral and burial of
6.23the decedent, or a state or county agency with a claim authorized under section 256B.15.
6.24 (53) (56) "Supervised administration" refers to the proceedings described in sections
6.25524.3-501 to 524.3-505.
6.26 (54) (57) "Testacy proceeding" means a proceeding to establish a will or determine
6.27intestacy.
6.28 (55) (58) "Third-party donor" means an individual who produces eggs or sperm used
6.29for assisted reproduction, whether or not for consideration. The term does not include:
6.30 (i) a husband who provides sperm, or a wife who provides eggs, that are used for assisted
6.31reproduction by the wife;
6.32 (ii) the birth mother of a child of assisted reproduction; or
6Section 1.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 7.1 (iii) a man who has been determined under section 524.2-120, subdivision 4 or 5, to
7.2have a parent-child relationship with a child of assisted reproduction.
7.3 (56) (59) "Trust" includes any express trust, private or charitable, with additions thereto,
7.4wherever and however created. It also includes a trust created or determined by judgment
7.5or decree under which the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust.
7.6"Trust" excludes other constructive trusts, and it excludes resulting trusts, conservatorships,
7.7personal representatives, trust accounts as defined in chapter 528, custodial arrangements
7.8pursuant to sections 149A.97, 318.01 to 318.06, 527.21 to 527.44, business trusts providing
7.9for certificates to be issued to beneficiaries, common trust funds, voting trusts, security
7.10arrangements, liquidation trusts, and trusts for the primary purpose of paying debts, dividends,
7.11interest, salaries, wages, profits, pensions, or employee benefits of any kind, and any
7.12arrangement under which a person is nominee or escrowee for another.
7.13 (57) (60) "Trustee" includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not
7.14appointed or confirmed by court.
7.15 (58) (61) "Ward" is as described in section 524.5-102, subdivision 17.
7.16 (59) (62) "Will" includes an electronic will, any codicil to a will or electronic will, and
7.17any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another
7.18will, electronic will, or codicil.
7.19 (63) "Witnessing" for purposes of sections 524.2-501 to 524.2-517 means observing or
7.20authenticating the testator's signing or acknowledgment of signing a will by individuals in
7.21the presence of the testator at the time of the testator's signing or acknowledgment of signing
7.22the will.
7.23 (64) "Writing," "written instrument," or "written statement," for purposes of sections
7.24524.1-201 and 524.2-501 to 524.2-517, means any reasonably permanent record that is
7.25readable as text at the time of signing and is retrievable in perceivable form, including any
7.26information that is: (i) inscribed on a tangible medium; or (ii) stored in an electronic, digital,
7.27magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or other similar medium.
7.28 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-504, is amended to read:
7.29 524.2-504 SELF-PROVED WILL.
7.30 (a) A will may be contemporaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by
7.31acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before
7.32in the presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in
7Sec. 2.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 8.1which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in
8.2substantially the following form:
8.3 I, ................., the testator, sign my name to this instrument this ........ day of .................,
8.4and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and
8.5execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to
8.6sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed,
8.7and that I am 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue
8.8influence.
8.9 ......................................................................
8.10 Testator
8.11 We, ................., ................., the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first
8.12duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and
8.13executes this instrument as the testator's will and that the testator signs it willingly (or
8.14willingly directs another to sign for the testator), and that each of us, in the presence and
8.15hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to
8.16the best of our knowledge the testator is 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under
8.17no constraint or undue influence.
8.18 ......................................................................
8.19 Witness
8.20 ......................................................................
8.21 Witness
8.22State of...........................................................
8.23County of.......................................................
8.24 Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me in my presence by ................., the
8.25testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me in my presence by ................., and
8.26................., witnesses, this ........ day of ............., .........
8.27(Seal)
8.28 (Signed) .............................................................
8.29 ............................................................................
8.30 (Official capacity of officer)
8.31 (b) An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the
8.32acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before
8.33in the presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in
8Sec. 2.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 9.1which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the
9.2official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:
9.3State of...........................................................
9.4County of.......................................................
9.5 We, ................., ................., and ................., the testator and the witnesses, respectively,
9.6whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do
9.7hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the
9.8instrument as the testator's will and that the testator had signed willingly (or willingly
9.9directed another to sign for the testator), and that the testator executed it as the testator's
9.10free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and each of the witnesses, in the
9.11presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of the
9.12witness' knowledge the testator was at the time 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and
9.13under no constraint or undue influence.
9.14 ......................................................................
9.15 Testator
9.16 ......................................................................
9.17 Witness
9.18 ......................................................................
9.19 Witness
9.20 Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me in my presence by ................., the
9.21testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me in my presence by ................., and
9.22................., witnesses, this ........ day of ..............., .........
9.23(Seal)
9.24 (Signed) .............................................................
9.25 ............................................................................
9.26 (Official capacity of officer)
9.27 (c) A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a
9.28signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution.
9.29 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-506, is amended to read:
9.30 524.2-506 CHOICE OF LAW AS TO EXECUTION.
9.31 A written will is valid if executed in compliance with section 524.2-502 or if its execution
9.32complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the testator executes the
9Sec. 3.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 10.1will is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of
10.2death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode, or is a national.
10.3 Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 524.2-507, is amended to read:
10.4 524.2-507 REVOCATION BY WRITING OR BY ACT.
10.5 (a) A will or any part thereof is revoked:
10.6 (1) by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by
10.7inconsistency; or
10.8 (2) by performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the
10.9intent and for the purpose of revoking the will or part or if another individual performed
10.10the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction. For purposes of
10.11this clause, "revocatory act on the will" includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating,
10.12or destroying the will or any part of it. A burning, tearing, or canceling may be a "revocatory
10.13act on the will," whether or not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on
10.14the will.
10.15 (b) If a subsequent will does not expressly revoke a previous will, the execution of the
10.16subsequent will wholly revokes the previous will by inconsistency if the testator intended
10.17the subsequent will to replace rather than supplement the previous will.
10.18 (c) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to replace rather than
10.19supplement a previous will if the subsequent will makes a complete disposition of the
10.20testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing
10.21evidence, the previous will is revoked; only the subsequent will is operative on the testator's
10.22death.
10.23 (d) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to supplement rather
10.24than replace a previous will if the subsequent will does not make a complete disposition of
10.25the testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing
10.26evidence, the subsequent will revokes the previous will only to the extent the subsequent
10.27will is inconsistent with the previous will; each will is fully operative on the testator's death
10.28to the extent they are not inconsistent.
10.29Sec. 5. [524.2-518] CERTIFICATION OF PAPER COPY.
10.30 An individual may create a certified paper copy of an electronic will by affirming under
10.31penalty of perjury that a paper copy of the electronic will is a complete, true, and accurate
10.32copy of the electronic will. If the electronic will is made self-proving, the certified paper
10Sec. 5.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT 11.1copy of the will must include the self-proving affidavits. A certified paper copy of an
11.2electronic will may be substituted for an original will when an original will is required by
11.3this chapter.
11Sec. 5.
REVISOR JSK H0244-1HF244 FIRST ENGROSSMENT