EPTL § 3-6.8

Electronic will attested and made self-proving at time of · as in force on May 31, 2026

* § 3-6.8 Electronic will attested and made self-proving at time of

execution

(a) An electronic will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving by acknowledgment of the testator and affidavits of the witnesses.

(b) The acknowledgment and affidavits under paragraph (a) must be:

(1) made before and in the physical or electronic presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths under law of the state in which the officer is located; and

(2) evidenced by the officer's certificate under official seal affixed to or logically associated with the electronic will.

(c) The acknowledgment and affidavits under paragraph (a) must conform with section fourteen hundred six of the surrogate's court procedure act and must indicate that the will was signed electronically.

(d) A signature physically or electronically affixed to an affidavit that is affixed to or logically associated with an electronic will under this act is deemed a signature of the electronic will under paragraph (a) of section 3-6.6.

(e) The existence of contemporaneously executed affidavits in electronic format executed in compliance with the applicable law governing electronic notaries or other such officers duly authorized to administer oaths electronically that satisfy paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this section shall create a rebuttable presumption that the electronic will was created in compliance with paragraph (b) of section 3-6.6.

* NB Effective December 12, 2027

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/3-6.8

In plain English

This section lets an electronic will be signed, witnessed and made self-proving in one step.

(a)–(c) An electronic will may be executed, attested, and made self-proving at once through the testator’s acknowledgment and the witnesses’ affidavits, made before and in the physical or electronic presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths under the law of the state where the officer is located, and evidenced by the officer’s certificate under official seal affixed to or logically associated with the will. The papers must conform with SCPA § 1406 and state that the will was signed electronically.
(d) A signature physically or electronically affixed to an affidavit that is affixed to or logically associated with the electronic will counts as a signature of the will under § 3-6.6(a).
(e) Contemporaneous electronic affidavits, executed under the law governing electronic notaries or other officers and satisfying (a)–(c), create a rebuttable presumption that the will was created in compliance with § 3-6.6(b). ★ Effective December 12, 2027.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Surrogate's Court in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Surrogate's Court: Court Rules & the EPTL; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.