§ 4-102. Will requirements
West's Annotated Code of MarylandEstates and TrustsEffective: April 21, 2022
Effective: April 21, 2022
MD Code, Estates and Trusts, § 4-102
§ 4-102. Will requirements
(a) Any person may make a will if the person is 18 years of age or older, and legally competent to make a will.
(b) Except as provided in §§ 4-103 and 4-104 of this subtitle and subsection (f) of this section, every will shall be:
(c) An electronic will or remotely witnessed will executed under this subsection shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1) At the time the testator and witnesses sign the will, the testator and all witnesses shall be in the physical presence or electronic presence of one another and a supervising attorney, who may be one of the witnesses unless the will is signed, acknowledged, and sworn to before the supervising attorney as described in item (5)(iii)2 of this subsection;
(3) Each witness who is in the electronic presence of the testator when the witness attests and signs the will, or provides an electronic signature on the will, shall be a resident of the United States and be physically located in the United States at the time the witness attests and signs the will;
4. The identity of each witness and that each witness who was not in the physical presence of the testator when the witness attested and signed the will, or provided an electronic signature on the will, was a resident of the United States and physically located in the United States at the time that the witness attested and signed the will; and
The State of Maryland.
County of __________.
Before me, the undersigned notary public, on this day personally appeared __________, __________, and __________, known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument and, all of these persons being by me duly sworn, __________, the testator, declared to me and to the witnesses in my physical or electronic presence that the said instrument is the testator's will, that the testator is of sound mind, and that the testator had willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign the will under no constraint or undue influence, and executed it in the physical or electronic presence of the witnesses as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that the witnesses, in the physical or electronic presence and at the request of the testator, signed the will as witnesses, and that to the best of the witnesses' knowledge the testator was at least 18 years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
__________ Testator
__________ Witness
__________ Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by __________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by __________ and __________, witnesses, this __________ day of __________, ___.
__________ Seal __________ Notary Public; or
Before me, the undersigned supervising attorney, on this day personally appeared __________, __________, and __________, known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, and the testator declared to me and to the witnesses in my physical or electronic presence that the said instrument is the testator's will, that the testator is of sound mind, and that the testator had willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign the will under no constraint or undue influence, and executed it in the physical or electronic presence of the witnesses as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that the witnesses, in the physical or electronic presence and at the request of the testator, signed the will as witnesses, and that to the best of the witnesses' knowledge the testator was at least 18 years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
__________ Testator
__________ Witness
__________ Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by __________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by __________ and __________, witnesses, this __________ day of __________, ___.
__________ Supervising attorney.
(e)(1) Once the supervising attorney or testator creates a certified will as provided in subsection (c) or (d) of this section, the certified will shall be deemed to be the original will of the testator for all purposes under this article.
(f) A will executed in conformance with the provisions of Executive Order 20.04.10.01, authorizing remote witnessing and electronic signing of certain documents, shall be deemed to have been signed and witnessed in conformity with this section if the will was signed and witnessed during the time that the executive order was in effect.
Credits
Added by Acts 1974, c. 11, § 2, eff. July 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 2019, c. 197, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2019; Acts 2019, c. 322, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2019; Acts 2019, c. 323, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2019; Acts 2021, c. 686, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2021; Acts 2022, c. 176, § 1, eff. April 21, 2022; Acts 2022, c. 177, § 1, eff. April 21, 2022.
Formerly Art. 93, § 4-102.
MD Code, Estates and Trusts, § 4-102, MD EST & TRST § 4-102
Current through legislation effective through June 1, 2024, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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