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Field Notes

• Missouri’s Electronic Wills and Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act takes effect August 28, 2025, enabling end-to-end online execution of wills and other estate documents. Missouri Senate
• California already recognizes fiduciary access to digital assets under Cal-RUFADAA (Probate Code §§870–884), offering a useful framework for families and practitioners. California Lawyers Association
• Experts warn that convenience must be balanced with protections against fraud, coercion, and deepfake-enabled abuse in remote signings. America Bar

By Samuel Lopez – USA Herald

Missouri has just given families a powerful new way to protect their legacies in the smartphone era. On July 10, 2025, Governor Mike Kehoe approved House Bill 754, establishing the Missouri Electronic Wills and Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act. Beginning August 28, 2025, Missourians can lawfully create, sign, witness, store, and even present certified paper copies of estate planning documents — all online. house.mo.govhttps://www.senate.mo.gov/25info/bts_web/bill.aspx?BillID=8424443&SessionType=R

Supporters call it a modern fix to a long-standing access problem. As Craig Parker, Assistant General Counsel at Trust & Will, told St. Louis media, “I think you should be very proud…you’re on the cutting edge…using technology [and] there are so many people that will benefit from it,” adding that “Seventy percent of adults have nothing” in place for estate planning. Reporting noted Missouri will be the fifth state to offer complete digital estate planning and the 15th to recognize electronic wills.

What Missouri’s law actually does

Missouri’s statute makes an electronic will a will “for all purposes,” provided it meets core formalities (readable as text when signed; testator’s signature; two witnesses physically or electronically present within a reasonable time). It also validates electronically executed estate planning documents beyond wills — including powers of attorney, advance directives, trusts, beneficiary deeds — and permits certified paper copies to satisfy “original” requirements in court. The law clarifies revocation rules for e-wills and presumes revocation if a signed e-will or certified copy cannot be found after death. Finally, it expressly supersedes ESIGN in limited ways and allows courts to compel disclosure of digital assets to retrieve an e-will from an online account. Effective date: August 28, 2025. Missouri Senate

California’s head start: a legal blueprint families already use

California recognized the reality of digital lives nearly a decade ago by enacting the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Cal-RUFADAA), effective January 1, 2017, codified at Probate Code §§ 870–884. Cal-RUFADAA lets a designated fiduciary access certain digital assets, subject to a three-tier priority system: