Arizona Laws 14-2518. Electronic will; requirements; interpretation
A. An electronic will must meet all of the following requirements:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 14-2518
- Electronic: means having electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Electronic record: means a record that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received or stored by electronic means. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Electronic signature: means an electronic method or process that does both of the following:
(a) Is attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and that is executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Electronic will: means a testamentary instrument that is executed and maintained on an electronic medium and that is executed in compliance with section 14-2518. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Electronically present: means two or more individuals who are in a different physical location and who are communicating by means of technology that enables all individuals to see and hear each other in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically present in the same location. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Paper will: means a testamentary instrument that is executed and maintained on a tangible medium and that is executed in compliance with section 14-2502 or 14-2503. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Person: means an individual or an organization. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- State: means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Arizona Laws 14-9101
- Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
- Testator: includes a person of either sex. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- Trust: includes an express trust, private or charitable, with any additions, wherever and however created. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Will: includes a codicil and any testamentary instrument that merely appoints an executor, revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian or expressly excludes or limits the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate succession. See Arizona Laws 14-1201
1. Be created and maintained in an electronic record that is readable as text at the time of signing.
2. Contain the electronic signature of the testator or the testator‘s electronic signature made by some other individual in the testator’s conscious presence and by the testator’s direction.
3. Contain the electronic signatures of at least two persons, each of whom met all of the following requirements:
(a) Was physically present or electronically present with the testator when the testator electronically signed the will, acknowledged the testator’s signature or acknowledged the will.
(b) Electronically signed the will within a reasonable time after the person witnessed the testator signing the will, acknowledging the testator’s signature or acknowledging the will as described in subdivision (a) of this paragraph.
(c) If electronically present with the testator when the testator electronically signed the will, acknowledged the testator’s signature or acknowledged the will, was physically located within the United States at the time of serving as a witness.
4. State the date that the testator and each of the witnesses electronically signed the will.
5. Contain a copy of a government-issued identification card of the testator that was current at the time of execution of the will.
B. Except as provided in this section and sections 14-2519, 14-2520, 14-2521, 14-2522 and 14-2523, any question raised about the force, effect, validity and interpretation of an electronic will shall be determined in the same manner as a question regarding a paper will executed pursuant to section 14-2502.
C. This section does not apply to a trust except a testamentary trust created in an electronic will.