By: Matthew Mazurek
Report Commented On: Alberta Law Reform Institute, Creation of Electronic Wills, Final Report 119
PDF Version: Electronic Wills, Electronic Signatures, and Emojis
On October 19, 2023, the Alberta Law Reform Institute published Final Report 119, Creation of Electronic Wills. In it, we recommend that the Wills and Succession Act, SA 2010, c W-12.2 (WSA) should explicitly permit electronic wills. To do this, the rules for the creation of electronic wills should largely mirror the formalities for a paper will. These formalities have been in use for centuries and seem to suffice for our probate system. The traditional wills formalities can be used in the electronic medium. In fact, similar formalities have been used in the electronic medium in other legal contexts. More specifically, we recommend that formal electronic wills should be:
- readable as electronic text;
- signed by the testator using an electronic signature; and
- signed by two witnesses, who are both present at the same time for the testator’s signature, using an electronic signature.