On January 16, 2020, The Florida Supreme Court approved amendments to
The Florida Probate Rules. These were “fast-track”
amendments based upon changes to The Florida Statutes during the 2019 legislative session. For probate and guardianship
attorneys, the big change is the recognition of electronic notarization which
became effective January 1, 2020 and the recognition of electronic wills,
effective July 1, 2020. Although these
statutes reflect rapidly-changing technology, they do require strict procedures
to ensure the validity of the notarized document or will, and to ensure the
integrity of documents preserved in electronic format. The new procedures will introduce third-party
vendors into the process due to the requirements for preserving electronic
copies of wills and certain other estate planning documents, as well as the
requirements imposed upon electronic notaries.
While this initially appears to add convenience, time will tell how well
these procedures work and how the added technology requirements will affect the
overall cost of estate planning for those who utilize the new procedures.
Here’s a link to the rule changes:
The changes are primarily updates to
the committee notes following each rule.
These changes are invaluable because the cross-reference each rule with
other rules and statutes that need to be considered when applying a particular
rule. The provide a great research tool.
The amendments also recognized that documents, such as wills, could be submitted in electronic format, as long as the original format complied with the laws for
electronic notarization and electronic wills. The electronic document and the video of the signing must be preserved in a tamper-proof format. For wills signed by ink on paper, the original must still be preserved
and filed with the clerk upon the death of the person making the will.
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