755 ILCS 6/ Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act.

(755 ILCS 6/Art. 1 heading) Article 1. General Provisions (Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21.)

(755 ILCS 6/1-1)

Sec. 1-1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Electronic Wills, Electronic Estate Planning Documents, and Remote Witnesses Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21; 103-301, eff. 1-1-24.)

(755 ILCS 6/1-5)

Sec. 1-5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to provide for:

(1) the valid execution, attestation, self-proving, and probate of electronic wills, paper copies of electronic wills, and wills attested to by witnesses through audio-video communication;

(2) the valid execution of electronic nontestamentary estate planning documents and validation of electronic signatures on nontestamentary estate planning documents; and

(3) the valid execution, attestation, and witnessing of documents, other than wills, through audio-video communication.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21; 103-301, eff. 1-1-24.)

(755 ILCS 6/1-10)

Sec. 1-10. Applicability. Any document executed under this Act is executed in this State; however, executing a document under this Act does not automatically confer jurisdiction in the courts of this State.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21.)

(755 ILCS 6/1-15)

Sec. 1-15. Relation to Probate Act of 1975, other statutes, and common law. All electronic wills, paper copies of electronic wills, and wills attested to under this Act are subject to all requirements of the Probate Act of 1975 and the common law, but to the extent the common law or any provision of the Probate Act of 1975 conflicts with or is modified by this Act, the requirements of this Act control. Nontestamentary estate planning documents executed in accordance with this Act are subject to all requirements of the various statutes applicable thereto, but to the extent the common law or any statute conflicts with or is modified by this Act, the requirements of this Act control.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21; 103-301, eff. 1-1-24.)

(755 ILCS 6/1-20)

Sec. 1-20. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Audio-video communication" means communication by which a person can hear, see, and communicate with another person in real time using electronic means. A person's visual or hearing impairment does not prohibit or limit that person's use of audio-visual communication under this Act.

"Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

"Electronic record" means a record generated, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means for use in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another.

"Electronic signature" means a signature in electronic form that uses a security procedure under the Electronic Commerce Security Act and attached to or logically associated with an electronic record.

"Electronic will" is a will that is created and maintained as a tamper-evident electronic record.

"Identity proofing" means a process or service through which a third person affirms the identity of an individual through a review of personal information from public and proprietary data sources, including: (1) by means of dynamic knowledge-based authentication, including a review of personal information from public or proprietary data sources; or (2) by means of an analysis of biometric data, including, but not limited to, facial recognition, voiceprint analysis, or fingerprint analysis.

"Information" includes data, text, images, codes, computer programs, software, and databases.

"Nontestamentary estate planning document" means a record relating to estate planning that is readable as text at the time of signing and is not a will or contained in a will. "Nontestamentary estate planning document" includes a record readable as text at the time of signing that creates, exercises, modifies, releases, or revokes: (1) a trust instrument; (2) a trust power that under the terms of the trust requires a signed record, such as a power to appoint, remove, or designate a trustee or other fiduciary or powerholder, a power to direct a trustee, a power to modify or amend, a power to withdraw assets, a power to decant, a power to waive notice, or any other power granted under this Act, any other statute, the terms of a trust, or any rule of law possessed by a trustee, a grantor, a beneficiary, or a third party; (3) a certification of a trust under Section 1013 of the Illinois Trust Code; (4) a power of attorney that is durable under Article II of the Illinois Power of Attorney Act; (5) an agent's certification under Section 2-8 of the Illinois Power of Attorney Act of the validity of a power of attorney and the agent's authority; (6) a power of appointment; (7) an advance directive, including a health care power of attorney, directive to physicians, natural death statement, living will, and medical or physician order for life-sustaining treatment; (8) a record directing the disposition of an individual's body after death; (9) a nomination of a guardian for the signing individual, including a short-term, temporary, or standby guardian; (10) a nomination of a guardian for a minor child or disabled adult child, including a short-term, temporary, or standby guardian; (11) a supported decision-making agreement under the Supported Decision-Making Agreement Act; (12) a mental health treatment declaration; (13) a community property survivorship agreement; (14) a disclaimer under Section 2-7 of the Probate Act of 1975; and (15) any other record intended to carry out an individual's intent regarding property or health care while incapacitated or on death. "Nontestamentary estate planning document" does not include a deed of real property or a certificate of title for a vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft.

"Paper copy" means a tamper-evident electronic record that is printed and contains the following: (1) the text of the document; (2) the electronic signature of the signer; (3) a readable copy of the evidence of any changes displayed in the electronic record; and (4) any exhibits, attestation clauses, affidavits, or other items forming a part of the document or contained in the electronic record.

"Paper document" means a document that is written or printed on paper.

"Person" means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.

"Physical presence" means being in the same physical location as another person and close enough to see and know the other person is signing a document.

"Power of attorney" means a record that grants authority to an agent to act in place of the principal, even if the term is not used in the record.

"Presence" includes: (1) physical presence; or (2) being in a different physical location from another person, but able, using audio-video communication, to know the person is signing a document in real time.

"Record" means information: (1) inscribed on a tangible medium; or (2) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form.

"Remote witness" means a person attesting to a document who is in the presence of the signer or testator through audio-video communication.

"Rule of law" means any statute, ordinance, common law rule, court decision, or other rule of law enacted, established, or promulgated by this State or any agency, commission, department, court, other authority, or political subdivision of this State.

"Security procedure" means a procedure to verify that an electronic signature, record, or performance is that of a specific person or to detect a change or error in an electronic record. "Security procedure" includes a procedure that uses an algorithm, code, identifying word or number, encryption, or callback or other acknowledgment procedure.

"Settlor" means a person, including a testator, that creates or contributes property to a trust.

"Signature" includes an electronic signature and an ink signature.

"Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to: (1) execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or (2) attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic signature.

"State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or other territory or possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. "State" includes a federally recognized Indian tribe.

"Tamper-evident" means a feature of an electronic record by which any change to the electronic record is displayed.

"Terms of trust" means: (1) the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions as (i) expressed in the trust instrument or (ii) established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial proceeding; or (2) the trust's provisions as established, determined, or amended by (i) a trustee or other person in accordance with applicable law, (ii) a court order, or (iii) a nonjudicial settlement agreement under Section 111 of the Illinois Trust Code.

"Trust instrument" means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments.

"Will" includes a codicil and a 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.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21; 103-301, eff. 1-1-24.)