For Immediate Release
AUGUST 1, 2026 — The Legacy, Innovation & Virtual Estate Planning Coalition, known as the LIVE Coalition, has released Electronic Wills Around the World: The Evolving Policy Landscape, a new white paper examining how countries and regional jurisdictions are addressing the legal recognition of electronic wills.
The international legal landscape for electronic wills remains fragmented. Their validity varies considerably among countries and, in some nations, among individual states, provinces, and territories. The paper examines these differing frameworks and considers what they may indicate about the future of electronic wills and the opportunity for broader adoption.
The six-page report reviews electronic-will policies in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, China, New Zealand, and South Africa. It documents jurisdictions that have begun recognizing electronic execution, remote witnessing, or alternative digital formats while identifying others that continue to require wet-ink signatures and the physical presence of witnesses.
“Greater legal recognition of electronic wills could make estate planning more accessible, efficient, and equitable.”
— LIVE Coalition
An Uneven International Policy Landscape
In the United States, the report states that 16 states and the District of Columbia had enacted laws recognizing electronic wills as of August 2026. Electronic-will legislation was pending in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey. The report notes that electronic wills have not emerged as a partisan issue, with legislation enacted in states across the political spectrum.
The paper contrasts this progress with the United Kingdom, where the Wills Act of 1837 continues to require a wet-ink signature and the presence of two adult witnesses despite recommendations from the United Kingdom Law Commission for a new Wills Act that would recognize electronic wills.
Australia and Canada illustrate the additional complexity created when succession laws are governed regionally. Victoria permits electronic signatures and remote witnessing for wills, while New South Wales permits remote witnessing but not electronic signatures. British Columbia became the first Canadian province to recognize electronic wills, although electronic wills remain invalid in most Canadian provinces.
The report also reviews more limited reforms in Mexico and China and the continued wet-ink requirements in New Zealand and South Africa.
Modernization With Consumer Safeguards
The white paper concludes that momentum toward modernization is growing, even though the international legal landscape remains uneven. It emphasizes that technology can be incorporated into estate planning while maintaining safeguards intended to protect testamentary intent, authenticity, and people who may be vulnerable to fraud or coercion.
Clear legal standards, reliable identity verification, secure recordkeeping, and appropriate witnessing requirements are identified as important components of a modern electronic-will framework. The report also calls for continued examination of emerging legal models and greater international coordination.
A Note on Dispensing Power
The paper also examines dispensing power, sometimes called the harmless-error rule. Under this principle, a court may validate an electronic will when it concludes that the document is authentic and was intended to function as a legal will, even though every required formality may not have been satisfied.
Versions of this rule exist in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. The report notes, however, that relying on dispensing power can require a costly and time-consuming legal proceeding.
About the Authors
The white paper was prepared by Kristina Howard and Marion Reese. Howard is Executive Director of the LIVE Coalition and a public-affairs leader with more than a decade of experience advancing digital estate-planning policy. Reese is an undergraduate student at Sewanee: The University of the South, majoring in History and International and Global Studies, with research interests in public affairs, international law, and policy.
The complete report is available here: Electronic Wills Around the World: The Evolving Policy Landscape.
Who Is LIVE?
The Legacy, Innovation & Virtual Estate Planning Coalition brings together legal practitioners, technology platforms, policymakers, regulators, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders working to modernize estate planning laws for the digital age.
LIVE’s advocacy is organized around four policy principles: modernizing estate planning laws, expanding access through technology, strengthening security and consumer safeguards, and driving innovation through collaboration.
The coalition supports technology-neutral policies that permit secure electronic execution and notarization of wills, trusts, advance healthcare directives, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents. It also advocates for identity verification, tamper-evident records, audit trails, secure remote participation, and policies developed collaboratively across the legal, technology, government, regulatory, and consumer sectors.
LIVE’s 2026 legislative priorities include electronic wills, electronic non-testamentary estate planning documents, remote online notarization, digital assets, digital notification of legal notices, non-traditional family planning, responsible use of artificial intelligence, general wealth succession, and digital death certificates. Learn more at livecoalition.com/advocacy-in-action.
Media Contact
LIVE Coalition
Email: support@livecoalition.com
Website: livecoalition.com
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[1]: https://www.livecoalition.com/resources/electronic-wills-around-the-world-the-evolving-policy-landscape “https://www.livecoalition.com/resources/electronic-wills-around-the-world-the-evolving-policy-landscape”