On January 1, 2026, North Carolina Session Law 2025-33 went into effect, allowing for the electronic storage of wills.[1] At the testator’s direction, North Carolina attorneys can now upload an attested, written will into an electronic record for storage.[2] The attorney must include a sworn affidavit with the electronic record certifying that it is a complete and accurate copy of the attested will.[3] Later, an attorney can create a certified paper copy of the electronically stored will and file another affidavit certifying that the document is accurate.[4] This certified paper copy can then be probated.[5]
One of the primary motivations for this law is to address the problems that arise when a physical will is lost or destroyed.[6] When a will was last in the possession of the testator and cannot be found, North Carolina law has a rebuttable presumption that the testator destroyed and revoked it.[7] The new law eliminates this presumption after a will has been properly converted into an electronic record.[8] As a result, the legislation helps preserve the testator’s intent in cases of accidental loss or destruction of the document.
The enactment of this legislation followed an earlier attempt to more drastically reform will creation in North Carolina. The General Assembly previously considered House Bill 377 (HB 377), which had passed in the House but was not voted on in the Senate.[9] HB 377 would have added North Carolina to a list of 9 other jurisdictions that have adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (UEWA).[10] The UEWA permits wills to be created and ratified entirely through electronic means, including the use of electronic signatures and the online presence of witnesses and notaries.[11] Some states adopted similar reforms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and later made them permanent for convenience.[12]
While fully electronic will creation offers efficiency, it raises significant concerns by potentially increasing the risk of fraud, coercion, or undue influence.[13] When witnesses are not physically present for attestation, it can become more difficult to verify the testator’s identity or assess their mental capacity. In the future, as deepfake technology becomes more advanced, online witnesses could be deceived by a realistic computer recreation of the testator. Additionally, remote attestation can make it harder to determine whether other people are physically present with the testator.
In this context, North Carolina’s enacted legislation provides a solid middle ground between the UEWA and traditional will creation. It still maintains the regular common law formalities for creating a will, like having the witnesses be physically present and requiring handwritten signatures.[14] These formalities help ensure that the intent of the testator is accurately reflected in the will. The new electronic storage provisions increase security by protecting wills from accidental loss or natural disasters. Electronic records may also be easier to organize, manage, and retrieve when needed.
Despite these benefits, the legislation raises concerns regarding revocation. North Carolina allows for the revocation of written wills by two methods: the first is the execution of a subsequent will or other revocatory writing, and the second is by physically destroying the document.[15] However, the physical destruction of a will no longer constitutes a valid revocation if the will has been electronically stored.[16] As a result, a testator can still revoke an electronically stored will on their own by properly executing a holographic, handwritten will, but not by destroying the original document.[17] Because of this, the statute requires the attorney who creates the electronic record to advise the testator that they cannot revoke the will by destruction.[18] It may be beneficial for attorneys to have testators sign an acknowledgment confirming that they understand this restriction.[19]
Additionally, it is unclear whether electronic storage meaningfully improves security. North Carolina is one of 28 states that requires the clerks of its superior courts to keep a depository for the safekeeping of wills.[20] Testators can also store their wills in a safe deposit box at their bank.[21] With these existing safeguards, added protections from online storage may not be necessary.
Finally, electronic storage raises cybersecurity and privacy concerns. The new statute does not state specifically where the electronic record must be stored.[22] This could potentially allow for wills to be housed in third-party data centers, where they may be vulnerable to hacking or unauthorized modification.[23] Data breaches also pose privacy risks, as leaked wills could expose sensitive financial information and details about valuable assets.
Overall, the new legislation reflects a meaningful step toward modernizing North Carolina’s estate planning laws. Although the statute introduces new challenges, it provides testators with flexibility for preserving wills in an increasingly digital world.
[1] 2025 N.C. Sess. Laws 33.
[2] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-72(a).
[3] Id.
[4] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-73(b).
[5] Id.
[6] Tyler F. Chriscoe, North Carolina Authorizes Probate of Electronically Stored Wills, Poyner Spruill (July 11, 2025), https://www.poynerspruill.com/thought-leadership/north-carolina-authorizes-probate-of-electronically-stored-wills/.
[7] In re Wall’s Will, 27 S.E.2d 728, 729–30 (N.C. 1943); In re Will of McFayden 635 S.E.2d 65, 70 (N.C. Ct. App. 2006).
[8] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-72(b).
[9] HB 377, N.C. Gen. Assembly, https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2025/h377 (last visited Feb. 10, 2026).
[10] Electronic Wills Act, Unif. L. Comm’n, https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=a0a16f19-97a8-4f86-afc1-b1c0e051fc71 (last visited Feb. 7, 2026).
[11] Id.; Jada Stephens, Note, Electronic Will Legislation: A Comparison of the Uniform Act and Illinois, 46 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 121, 128–31 (2025).
[12] Stephens, supra note 11, at 128.
[13] William Schema, Electronic Wills: A Tool for Convenience or Probate Litigation?, J. High Tech. L.: Blog (Apr. 5, 2024), https://sites.suffolk.edu/jhtl/2024/04/05/electronic-wills-a-tool-for-convenience-or-probate-litigation/.
[14] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-3.3.
[15] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.1.
[16] Id.; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-72(b).
[17] See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.1; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-3.4.
[18] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-72(a).
[19] Chriscoe, supra note 6.
[20] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-11; Adam J. Hirsch, Technology Adrift: In Search of a Role for Electronic Wills, 61 Bos. Coll. L. Rev. 827, 864 n.245 (2020).
[21] Hirsch, supra note 20, at 864.
[22] See N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 31-71 to -73.
[23] Hirsch, supra note 20, at 863.
