SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 421
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: DECEMBER 15, 2025
The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 421.
This bill, titled the “Uniform Electronic Wills Act,” is based upon draft legislation approved and recommended for enactment by states by the Uniform Law Commission in 2019. The commission, also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, is a non-partisan entity that produces draft legislation for states’ consideration on a variety of issues.
According to the bill, “[a]n electronic will is a will for all purposes of the law of this State” and the “law of this State applicable to wills and principles of equity apply to an electronic will” unless specifically modified by the provisions of the bill. An electronic will would be required to be a record that is readable as text at the time of signing, which would be done by the testator or another individual on behalf of and by direction of the testator, plus: (1) additionally signed by two or more individuals as witnesses, signing in the “physical or electronic presence of the testator” within a reasonable time after witnessing (a) the signing by the testator’s or testator’s representative or (b) the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or of the will; or (2) additionally acknowledged by the testator before and in the “physical or electronic presence” of a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments. An electronically executed will from another jurisdiction that does not comply with the above requirements would still be considered an electronic will for purposes of the bill if it was executed in compliance with the law of the jurisdiction where the testator was physically located when the will was signed or was domiciled or resided when the will was signed or when the testator died.
An electronic will could be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving by acknowledgment of the testator and affidavits of witnesses, based upon forms set forth in section 7 of the bill, made in the physical presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths pursuant to the law of the state in which the testator or testator’s representative signs the will, or, if less than two attesting witnesses are physically in the same location as the testator, in the physical or electronic presence of a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments. These actions would be evidenced by the officer’s certificate under official seal affixed to or logically associated with the electronic will. Additionally, a self-proving will would:
- contain the electronic signature and seal of a notary public placed on the will in accordance with applicable law;
- designate a custodian for the electronic will; and
- be under the exclusive control of a custodian at all times prior to being offered for probate or being reduced to a certified paper copy as authorized by the bill.
A certified paper copy of an electronic will, whether or not self-proving, could be created by an individual affirming, under penalty of law, that a paper copy represents a complete, true, and accurate copy of the electronic will. If self-proving, the certified paper copy would include the self-proving affidavits (described above).
An electronic will could revoke all or part of a previous will, and all or part of an electronic will could be revoked by a subsequent will expressly or by inconsistency, or by a physical act if it is established by a preponderance of evidence that the testator, with proper intent, performed the act or directed another individual to do the act in the testator’s physical presence.
This bill would take effect immediately and would be applicable to the will of a decedent who dies on or after the bill’s effective date.
This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.