Where There’s an Electronic Will, There’s a Way: Evaluating the Potential Power of Electronically Executed and Stored Wills for Appalachian Communities

Authors

Grace Keel Buchanan, Lincoln Memorial University, Duncan School of Law

First & Last Page

76-101

Abstract

Based on the rise of electronic media and the difficulty for lower-income communities, specifically rural Appalachia, to build intergenerational wealth, some states have enacted statutes allowing courts to hold electronically created and stored wills to be held valid. By analyzing the current precedent in the United States and beyond concerning electronic wills and the socioeconomic state of Appalachia, the note argues that states should enact legislation to change the Wills Act to give electronic wills in multiple forms full effect by probate courts as long as they are appropriately attested to electronically. The court should recognize the electronic will as evidence of testamentary intent and act as an alternative to the state’s intestate succession statute if it is not properly attested.

Recommended Citation

Grace K. Buchanan, Where There’s an Electronic Will, There’s a Way: Evaluating the Potential Power of Electronically Executed and Stored Wills for Appalachian Communities, 11 Lincoln Mem’l U. L. Rev. (2024).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/lmulrev/vol11/iss2/5