What You Need To Know About New York’s Electronic Wills Act

With a limited exception that was implemented during COVID, New York law has always required that all wills be written on paper and signed in the presence of witnesses. During COVID, an executive order removed the requirement of witnesses, but this exemption has long since expired. The new Electronic Wills Act was signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2025 and establishes the statutory framework for the electronic execution, attestation, and filing of wills. The law will take effect on June 10, 2027 (545 days from its enactment), and will be codified as part of the New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law. Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia allow electronic wills. 

Here are some of the major provisions of New York’s Electronic Wills Act:

• A will must exist in an accessible digital format at the time it is signed
• The will must include disclosure language in 12-point type or larger, and be bold-faced and double-spaced
• A testator must affix an electronic signature, or have another person who is in the testator’s physical presence sign on their behalf and by their direction
• A minimum of two witnesses must sign physically or electronically in the physical or electronic presence of the testator within 30 days of witnessing the testator’s signature or acknowledgment
• The electronic will must contain “audit trail data” (a chronological record of system activities)
• The electronic will must be filed with the New York State Unified Court System within 30 days of its execution

Like traditional wills, electronic wills do not need to be notarized. The Electronic Wills Act provides that an electronic will can revoke all or part of a previous will.  

Concerns of Estate Planning Lawyers

The Electronic Wills Act is viewed by many as democratizing the estate planning process, removing barriers that have historically kept many families from engaging in estate planning. The American Bar Association demonstrated, through cost analysis, that estate-planning fees decrease by approximately 30% when attorneys adopt remote notarization and electronic document management systems. Though this Act can be viewed as modernizing estate planning, many estate planning lawyers are concerned that it may lead to more will contests if the finer details of the law are not complied with. For example, what if the will does not include the requisite “audit trail data,” or is not formatted in the specified typeface? There may be a number of other scenarios that lead to will contests regarding the will’s genuineness. For this reason, it’s important to work with a Long Island estate planning lawyer to avoid any opportunity for someone to challenge your electronic will. 

The Consequences of An Invalid Will

If a will is deemed to be invalid in New York, it’s as if you have no will at all. Here’s what happens in that event:

First, the New York Surrogate Court will name an administrator for your estate. This person, typically a relative, will have legal authority to handle your estate. The order of priority for the administrator is as follows:

• Spouse
• Children
• Grandchildren
• Parents
• Siblings

If you die without a valid will, you are considered to be “intestate.” Your assets will pass to your heirs under New York’s laws of intestacy. 

Who gets the assets depends on who the living relatives are and their relationship to the decedent, the person who died. The family members who are entitled to a share of the decedent’s estate when there is no will are called “distributees.”

In the simplest terms, this is the intestate distribution:

• If the decedent has a spouse but no children, the spouse inherits everything
• If the decedent has children but no spouse, the children inherit everything
• If the decedent has a spouse and children, the spouse inherits the first $50,000, plus half the balance. The children inherit everything else
• If the decedent has parents but no spouse, the parents inherit everything
• If the decedent has siblings but no spouse, children, or parents, the siblings inherit everything

Note that if a child dies before the decedent and had children of their own, then the decedent would have grandchildren. Those grandchildren would step into the decedent’s child’s place and inherit in the child’s stead.

For children to inherit from their parents, New York State requires a legal parent-child relationship. In most cases, this is not an issue, but it’s not always clear.

• Adopted children will inherit just like a biological child.
• Foster children and stepchildren will not inherit unless they were legally adopted.
• Children born after the decedent dies will inherit.
• Children born outside of marriage, also called non-marital children, will inherit from a male decedent if paternity is established
• Grandchildren will inherit only if their parent (the decedent’s child) dies before the decedent.

If the decedent has no family, the property will go to New York State.

These laws apply only to individually owned property. If you die holding jointly-owned property, this property is not subject to the rules of intestate succession.

As you review the intestate succession rules, it’s possible that you agree with how your property would be distributed. But in many cases, people disagree with how the statutory intestate scheme would play out. Therefore, it’s critical to have a valid will so your wishes are honored. In addition, if your will is deemed invalid, you no longer have the right to name the trustee of your will, and this decision will be made by the court.

Contact Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, LLP

The world is changing quickly through rapid-fire advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence. While there are many benefits, there are many pitfalls as well. This is certainly true in the estate planning area, as you can see with electronic wills. Here at Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, our clients have counted on us for over one hundred years. In addition to estate planning, we are at the forefront of developments in trusts, probate, estate administration, and elder law.  Contact us today to see how we can help you.

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