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Missouri Senate Bill SB289

Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SB289 Compare Versions

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22 EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
33 and is intended to be omitted in the law.
44 FIRST REGULAR SESSION
55 SENATE BILL NO. 289
66 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
77 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BURGER.
88 0423S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
99 AN ACT
1010 To repeal sections 456.1-108 and 456.10-1005, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof sixteen new
1111 sections relating to estate planning.
1212
1313 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
1414 Section A. Sections 456.1 -108 and 456.10-1005, RSMo, are 1
1515 repealed and sixteen new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to 2
1616 be known as sections 456.1 -108, 456.10-1005, 474.540, 474.542, 3
1717 474.544, 474.546, 474.548, 474.550, 474.552, 474.554, 474.556, 4
1818 474.558, 474.560, 474.562, 474.564, and 474.600, to read as 5
1919 follows:6
2020 456.1-108. 1. Without precluding other means for 1
2121 establishing a sufficient connection with the de signated 2
2222 jurisdiction, terms of a trust designating the principal 3
2323 place of administration are valid and controlling if: 4
2424 (1) a trustee's principal place of business is located 5
2525 in or a trustee is a resident of the designated 6
2626 jurisdiction; or 7
2727 (2) all or part of the administration occurs in the 8
2828 designated jurisdiction. 9
2929 2. Without precluding the right of the court to order, 10
3030 approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee may transfer 11
3131 the trust's principal place of administration to anothe r 12
3232 state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States that 13
3333 is appropriate to the trust's purposes, its administration, 14
3434 and the interests of the beneficiaries. 15 SB 289 2
3535 3. The trustee shall notify the qualified 16
3636 beneficiaries of a proposed transfer of a trust's principal 17
3737 place of administration not less than sixty days before 18
3838 initiating the transfer. The notice of proposed transfer 19
3939 must include: 20
4040 (1) the name of the jurisdiction to which the 21
4141 principal place of administration is to be transferre d; 22
4242 (2) the address and telephone number at the new 23
4343 location at which the trustee can be contacted; 24
4444 (3) an explanation of the reasons for the proposed 25
4545 transfer; 26
4646 (4) a notice that states a change in the place of 27
4747 administration may result in a change of the governing law, 28
4848 which may affect the rights of any beneficiaries in ways 29
4949 that are different from the current governing law; 30
5050 (5) the date on which the proposed transfer is 31
5151 anticipated to occur; and 32
5252 [(5)] (6) the date, not less than sixty days after the 33
5353 giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary 34
5454 must notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed 35
5555 transfer. 36
5656 4. The authority of a trustee under this section to 37
5757 transfer a trust's principal place of adm inistration without 38
5858 an order of a court terminates if a qualified beneficiary 39
5959 notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed 40
6060 transfer on or before the date specified in the notice. 41
6161 5. In connection with a transfer of the trust's 42
6262 principal place of administration, the trustee may transfer 43
6363 some or all of the trust property to a successor trustee 44
6464 designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant 45
6565 to section 456.7-704. 46 SB 289 3
6666 456.10-1005. 1. A beneficiary [may] shall not 1
6767 commence a proceeding against a trustee for breach of trust 2
6868 more than one year after the last to occur of the date the 3
6969 beneficiary or a representative of the beneficiary was sent 4
7070 a report that adequately disclosed the existence of a 5
7171 potential claim for breach of trust and the date the trustee 6
7272 informed the beneficiary of the time allowed for commencing 7
7373 a proceeding with respect to any potential claim adequately 8
7474 disclosed on the report. 9
7575 2. A report adequately discloses the existence of a 10
7676 potential claim for breach of trust if it provides 11
7777 sufficient information so that the beneficiary or 12
7878 representative knows of the potential claim or should have 13
7979 inquired into its existence. 14
8080 3. If subsection 1 of this section does not apply, a 15
8181 judicial proceeding by a beneficiary against a trustee for 16
8282 breach of trust [must] shall be commenced within five years 17
8383 after the first to occur of: 18
8484 (1) the removal, resignation, or death of the trustee; 19
8585 (2) the occurrence of the event causing a termination 20
8686 of the beneficiary's interest in the trust; or 21
8787 (3) the occurrence of the event causing a termination 22
8888 of the trust. 23
8989 474.540. The provisions of sections 474.540 to 474.564 1
9090 shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri El ectronic 2
9191 Wills and Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act". 3
9292 474.542. As used in sections 474.540 to 474.564, the 1
9393 following terms mean: 2
9494 (1) "Electronic", technology having electrical, 3
9595 digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, elec tromagnetic, or 4
9696 similar capabilities; 5 SB 289 4
9797 (2) "Electronic presence", the relationship of two or 6
9898 more individuals in different locations in real time using 7
9999 technology enabling live, interactive audio -visual 8
100100 communication that allows for observation, d irect 9
101101 interaction, and communication between or among the 10
102102 individuals; 11
103103 (3) "Electronic will", a will executed electronically 12
104104 in compliance with subsection 1 of section 474.548; 13
105105 (4) "Record", information that is inscribed on a 14
106106 tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other 15
107107 medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; 16
108108 (5) "Security procedure", a procedure to verify that 17
109109 an electronic signature, record, or performance is that of a 18
110110 specific person or to detect a change or error in an 19
111111 electronic record, including a procedure that uses an 20
112112 algorithm, code, identifying word or number, encryption, or 21
113113 callback or other acknowledgment procedure; 22
114114 (6) "Sign", with present intent to authenticate or 23
115115 adopt a record to: 24
116116 (a) Execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or 25
117117 (b) Affix to or logically associate with the record an 26
118118 electronic symbol or process; 27
119119 (7) "State", a state of the United States, the 28
120120 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 29
121121 Islands, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or any 30
122122 territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction 31
123123 of the United States; 32
124124 (8) "Will", a codicil and any testamentary instrument 33
125125 that appoints an executor, revokes or revises another will, 34
126126 nominates a guardian, or expressly excludes or limits the 35
127127 right of an individual or class to succeed to property of 36
128128 the decedent passing by intestate succession. 37 SB 289 5
129129 474.544. An electronic will shall be a will for all 1
130130 purposes of the laws of this state. The provisions of law 2
131131 applicable to wills and principles of equity shall apply to 3
132132 an electronic will, except as modified by sections 474.540 4
133133 to 474.564. 5
134134 474.546. A will executed electronically, but not in 1
135135 compliance with subsection 1 of section 474.548, shall be an 2
136136 electronic will under the provisions of sections 474.540 to 3
137137 474.564 if executed in compliance with the law of the 4
138138 jurisdiction where the testator is: 5
139139 (1) Physically located when the will is signed; or 6
140140 (2) Domiciled, or where the testator resides, when the 7
141141 will is signed or when the testator dies. 8
142142 474.548. 1. An electronic will shall be: 1
143143 (1) A record that is readable as text at the time of 2
144144 signing as provided in sub division (2) of this subsection 3
145145 and remains accessible as text for later reference; 4
146146 (2) Signed by: 5
147147 (a) The testator; or 6
148148 (b) Another individual in the testator's name, in the 7
149149 testator's physical presence, and by the testator's 8
150150 direction; and 9
151151 (3) Signed in the physical or electronic presence of 10
152152 the testator by at least two individuals after witnessing: 11
153153 (a) The signing of the will pursuant to subdivision 12
154154 (2) of this subsection; or 13
155155 (b) The testator's acknowledgment of th e signing of 14
156156 the will pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection or 15
157157 acknowledgment of the will. 16
158158 2. The intent of a testator that the record in 17
159159 subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this section be the 18 SB 289 6
160160 testator's electronic will may be establishe d by extrinsic 19
161161 evidence. 20
162162 3. In accordance with the provisions of sections 21
163163 474.337 or 474.550, a witness to a will shall be a resident 22
164164 of a state and physically located in a state at the time of 23
165165 signing if no self-proving affidavit is signed 24
166166 contemporaneously with the execution of the electronic will. 25
167167 474.550. At the time of its execution or at any 1
168168 subsequent date, an electronic will may be made self -proved 2
169169 in the same manner as specified in section 474.337 or, if 3
170170 fewer than two witnesses are physically present in the same 4
171171 location as the testator at the time of such 5
172172 acknowledgments, before a remote online notary authorized to 6
173173 perform a remote online notarization in this state under the 7
174174 law of any state or the United Stat es, and evidenced by a 8
175175 remote online notarial certificate, in form and content 9
176176 substantially as follows, subject to the additional 10
177177 requirements under section 486.1165: 11
178178 12 State of _____
179179 13 County (and/or City) of _____
180180 14
181181 15
182182 16
183183 17
184184 18
185185 19
186186 20
187187 21
188188 22
189189 23
190190 24
191191 25
192192 26
193193 27
194194 28
195195 I, the undersigned notary, certify that _____, the
196196 testator, and the witnesses, whose names are signed to
197197 the attached or foregoing instrument, having personally
198198 appeared before me by remote online mea ns, and having
199199 been first duly sworn, each then declared to me that
200200 the testator signed and executed the instrument as the
201201 testator's last will, and that the testator had
202202 willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign
203203 for the testator, and that the testator executed it as
204204 the testator's free and voluntary act for the purposes
205205 therein expressed; and that each of the witnesses, in
206206 the presence and hearing of the testator, signed the
207207 will as witness and that to the best of the witnesses'
208208 knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen or
209209 SB 289 7
210210 474.552. 1. An electronic will may revoke all or part 1
211211 of a previous will. 2
212212 2. All or part of an electronic will shall be revoked 3
213213 by: 4
214214 (1) A subsequent will that revokes all or part of the 5
215215 electronic will expressly or by inconsistency; 6
216216 (2) A written instrument signed by the testator 7
217217 declaring the revocation; or 8
218218 (3) A physical act, if it is established by a 9
219219 preponderance of the evidence that the testator, with the 10
220220 intent of revoking all or part of the will, performed the 11
221221 act or directed another individual who performed the act in 12
222222 the testator's physical presence. 13
223223 3. If there is evidence that a testator signed an 14
224224 electronic will and neit her the electronic will nor a 15
225225 certified paper copy of the electronic will can be located 16
226226 after a testator's death, there shall be a presumption that 17
227227 the testator revoked the electronic will, even if no 18
228228 instrument or later will revoking the electronic w ill can be 19
229229 located. 20
230230 474.554. Without further notice, at any time during 1
231231 the administration of the estate or, if there is no grant of 2
232232 administration, upon such notice and in such manner as the 3
233233 court directs, the court may issue an or der pursuant to 4
234234 sections 472.400 to 472.490 for a custodian of an account 5
235235 29
236236 30
237237 more years of age, of sound mind, and under no
238238 constraint or undue influence.
239239 31
240240 32
241241 In witness thereof I have hereunto subscribed my name
242242 and affixed my official seal this _____ (date).
243243
244244 33
245245 34
246246 ____________________ (official signature and seal of
247247 notary)
248248 SB 289 8
249249 held under a terms-of-service agreement to disclose digital 6
250250 assets for the purposes of obtaining an electronic will from 7
251251 the account of a deceased user. If there is no grant of 8
252252 administration at the time the court issues the order, the 9
253253 court's order shall grant disclosure to the petitioner who 10
254254 is deemed a personal representative for sections 472.400 to 11
255255 472.490. 12
256256 474.556. 1. An individual may create a certi fied 1
257257 paper copy of an electronic will by affirming under penalty 2
258258 of perjury that a paper copy of the electronic will is a 3
259259 complete, true, and accurate copy of the electronic will. 4
260260 If the electronic will is made self -proving, the certified 5
261261 paper copy of the will shall include a self -proving 6
262262 affidavit as provided in sections 474.337 or 474.550. 7
263263 2. If a provision of law or rule of procedure requires 8
264264 a will to be presented or retained in its original form or 9
265265 provides legal consequences for the in formation not being 10
266266 presented or retained in its original form, that provision 11
267267 or rule shall be satisfied by a certified paper copy of an 12
268268 electronic will. 13
269269 474.558. In applying and construing the provisions of 1
270270 sections 474.540 to 474 .564, consideration shall be given to 2
271271 the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to 3
272272 its subject matter among states that enact similar 4
273273 provisions. 5
274274 474.560. 1. Any written estate planning document may 1
275275 be executed electronically, and no such estate planning 2
276276 document shall be invalid or void solely because it is in 3
277277 electronic form or because it is signed electronically by a 4
278278 settlor, trustee, principal, grantor, declarant, or owner, 5
279279 or by a witness to any such person's s ignature. For 6 SB 289 9
280280 purposes of this section, "estate planning document" shall 7
281281 include, but not be limited to: 8
282282 (1) A power of attorney or durable power of attorney; 9
283283 (2) A health care declaration; 10
284284 (3) An advance directive; 11
285285 (4) A power of attorney for health care or durable 12
286286 power of attorney for health care; 13
287287 (5) A revocable trust or amendment thereto, or 14
288288 modification or revocation thereof; 15
289289 (6) An irrevocable trust; 16
290290 (7) A beneficiary deed; 17
291291 (8) A nonprobate transfe r; or 18
292292 (9) A document modifying, amending, correcting, or 19
293293 revoking any written estate planning document. 20
294294 2. (1) An electronic estate planning document or an 21
295295 electronic signature on such document shall be attributable 22
296296 to a person if it was th e act of the person. The act of the 23
297297 person may be shown in any manner, including a showing of 24
298298 the efficacy of a security procedure applied to determine 25
299299 the person to which the electronic record or signature was 26
300300 attributable. 27
301301 (2) The effect of attribution of a document or 28
302302 signature to a person pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 29
303303 subsection shall be determined from the context and 30
304304 surrounding circumstances at the time of its creation, 31
305305 execution, or adoption and as provided by other provisions 32
306306 of law. 33
307307 3. (1) Unless otherwise provided under its terms, any 34
308308 electronic estate planning document may be signed in one or 35
309309 more counterparts, and each separate counterpart may be an 36
310310 electronic document or a paper document, provided that all 37 SB 289 10
311311 signed counterpart pages of each document are incorporated 38
312312 into, or attached to, the document. 39
313313 (2) An individual may create a certified paper copy of 40
314314 any such electronic estate planning document by affirming 41
315315 under penalty of perjury that a paper copy o f the electronic 42
316316 estate planning document is a complete, true, and accurate 43
317317 copy of such document. If a provision of law or rule of 44
318318 procedure requires an estate planning document to be 45
319319 presented or retained in its original form or provides legal 46
320320 consequences for the information not being presented or 47
321321 retained in its original form, such provision or rule shall 48
322322 be satisfied by a certified paper copy of an electronic 49
323323 document. 50
324324 4. Any written estate planning document, other than a 51
325325 will, that requires one or more witnesses to the signature 52
326326 of a principal may be witnessed by any individual or 53
327327 individuals in the electronic presence of the principal. 54
328328 5. A person who acts in reliance upon an 55
329329 electronically executed written estate planning doc ument 56
330330 shall not be liable to any person for so relying and may 57
331331 assume without inquiry the valid execution of the 58
332332 electronically executed written estate planning document. 59
333333 6. This section does not require a written estate 60
334334 planning document to be e lectronically signed. 61
335335 7. The laws of this state and principles of equity 62
336336 applicable to any estate planning document shall apply to 63
337337 any electronic estate planning document except as modified 64
338338 by this section. 65
339339 474.562. The provisions of sections 474.540 to 474.564 1
340340 modify, limit, and supersede the federal Electronic 2
341341 Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. 3
342342 Section 7001, et seq., but do not modify, limit, or 4 SB 289 11
343343 supersede Section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Section 5
344344 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the 6
345345 notices described in Section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. 7
346346 Section 7003(b). 8
347347 474.564. The provisions of sections 474.540 to 474.564 1
348348 shall apply to any will of a decedent who di es on or after 2
349349 August 28, 2025, and to each written estate planning 3
350350 document, as that term is defined in section 474.560, signed 4
351351 or remotely witnessed on or after August 28, 2025. 5
352352 474.600. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
353353 terms mean: 2
354354 (1) "Applicable state of emergency", the period 3
355355 between April 6, 2020, and December 31, 2021, during which a 4
356356 state of emergency existed due to a COVID -19 public health 5
357357 threat, as proclaimed by the governor, and during which 6
358358 executive orders 20-08, 20-10, 20-12, 20-14, 20-19, 21-07, 7
359359 and 21-09 temporarily suspended the physical appearance 8
360360 requirements in this chapter and authorized the use of audio - 9
361361 visual technology to the extent that any Missouri statute 10
362362 required the physical presen ce of any testator, settlor, 11
363363 principal, witness, notary, or other person necessary for 12
364364 the effective execution of any estate planning document such 13
365365 as a will, trust, or power of attorney, or a self -proving 14
366366 affidavit of the execution of such document, i f the 15
367367 conditions set forth in the executive orders were met; 16
368368 (2) "Estate planning document", includes, but is not 17
369369 limited to: 18
370370 (a) A will; 19
371371 (b) A codicil; 20
372372 (c) A power of attorney or durable power of attorney; 21
373373 (d) A health care declaration; 22
374374 (e) An advance directive; 23 SB 289 12
375375 (f) A power of attorney for health care or a durable 24
376376 power of attorney for health care; 25
377377 (g) A revocable trust or amendment thereto, or 26
378378 modification or revocation thereof; 27
379379 (h) An irrevocable trust; 28
380380 (i) A beneficiary deed; 29
381381 (j) A nonprobate transfer; or 30
382382 (k) A document modifying, amending, correcting, or 31
383383 revoking any written estate planning document; 32
384384 (3) "Necessary person", any testator, settlor, 33
385385 grantor, principal, decl arant, witness, notary, or other 34
386386 person required for the effective execution of any estate 35
387387 planning document in this state; 36
388388 (4) "Physical presence requirement", includes, but is 37
389389 not limited to, any requirement of physical presence under 38
390390 section 404.705, 459.015, 474.320, or 474.337, or chapter 39
391391 486. 40
392392 2. With respect to the execution of an estate planning 41
393393 document, a necessary person shall be deemed to have 42
394394 satisfied any physical presence requirement under Missouri 43
395395 law during the applicable state of emergency if the 44
396396 following requirements were met: 45
397397 (1) The signer affirmatively represented that the 46
398398 signer was physically situated in the state of Missouri; 47
399399 (2) The notary was physically located in the state of 48
400400 Missouri and stated in which county the notary was 49
401401 physically located for the jurisdiction on the 50
402402 acknowledgment; 51
403403 (3) The notary identified the signers to the 52
404404 satisfaction of the notary and Missouri law; 53
405405 (4) Any person whose signature was required appeared 54
406406 using video conference software where live, interactive 55 SB 289 13
407407 audio-visual communication between the principal, notary, 56
408408 and other necessary person allowed for observation, direct 57
409409 interaction, and communication at the time of signing; and 58
410410 (5) The notary recorded in the notary's journal the 59
411411 exact time and means used to perform the notarial act, along 60
412412 with all other required information, absent the wet 61
413413 signatures. 62
414414 3. The requirements of subdivisions (1) to (5) of 63
415415 subsection 2 of this section shall be deemed satisfied if an 64
416416 attorney who is licensed or authorized to practice law in 65
417417 Missouri and who was present at the remote execution signs a 66
418418 written acknowledgment made before an officer authorized to 67
419419 administer oaths under the laws of this state, an d evidenced 68
420420 by the officer's certificate, under official seal, affixed 69
421421 to or logically associated with the acknowledgment. The 70
422422 form and content of the acknowledgment shall be 71
423423 substantially as follows: 72
424424 73 State of ______
425425 74 County of _____
426426 75 AFFIDAVIT OF REMOTE EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS
427427 76
428428 77
429429 I, __________, am an attorney licensed or authorized to
430430 practice law in the state of Missouri.
431431
432432 78
433433 79
434434 80
435435 81
436436 82
437437 83
438438 On _____ (date), I convened with the following
439439 individuals via video conference software that allowed
440440 for live, interactive audio -visual communication between
441441 the parties to the conference and that also allowed for
442442 observation, direction, interaction, and communication
443443 between:
444444
445445 84
446446 85
447447 __________, the (testator, settlor, grantor, principal,
448448 or declarant);
449449
450450 86 __________, a witness;
451451 87 __________, a second witness; and SB 289 14
452452
453453 88 __________, a notary public.
454454 89
455455 90
456456 91
457457 92
458458 93
459459 94
460460 95
461461 96
462462 97
463463 98
464464 During the conference, __________, the (testator,
465465 settlor, grantor, principal, or declarant) signed the
466466 following estate planning document or documents: (a
467467 will, codicil, power of attorney, durable power of
468468 attorney, health care declaration, advance direct ive,
469469 health care power of attorney, revocable trust,
470470 irrevocable trust, beneficiary deed, nonprobate
471471 transfer, self-proving affidavit of the execution of a
472472 will, or a document modifying, amending, correcting, or
473473 revoking one of these estate planning docume nts).
474474
475475 99
476476 100
477477 101
478478 All the parties to the conference represented that they
479479 were physically located in the state of Missouri at the
480480 time of the signing.
481481
482482 102
483483 103
484484 104
485485 105
486486 106
487487 107
488488 I have reviewed and am familiar with the requirements of
489489 the applicable executive order or orders in effect at
490490 the time and affirm that the remote execution of the
491491 estate planning document or documents met all the
492492 requirements of the applicable executive o rder or
493493 orders.
494494
495495 108
496496 109
497497 110
498498 In witness whereof I, an officer authorized to
499499 administer oaths, have hereunto subscribed my name and
500500 affixed my official seal this _____ (date).
501501
502502 111 (Signed) __________________________________________
503503 112 (SEAL) __________________________________________
504504 113 (Official capacity of officer)