CO House Bill 24-1248

Legislation

State: Colorado
Signed: May 01, 2024

Effective: January 01, 2025
Chapter: 154

Summary

House Bill 24-1248 enacts the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act, authorizing a Notary or notarial officer to notarize a non-testamentary estate planning document.

Affects

Adds new Article 24 to Title 15 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

Changes

Defines "non-testamentary electronic estate planning document" as specified.
Excludes from the definition of "non-testamentary electronic estate planning document" a deed of real property or certificate of title for a motor vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft, and any record of a multiple-party agreement or other contractual agreement not identified in the list of documents that are not identified as non-testamentary estate planning documents.
Provides that a non-testamentary estate planning document or a signature on a non-testamentary estate planning document may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.
Provides that if other laws of Colorado require a non-testamentary estate planning document to be in writing, an electronic record of the document satisfies such requirement.
Provides that if the laws of Colorado require a signature or record to be notarized, acknowledged, verified, or made under oath, the requirement is satisfied with respect to an electronic non-testamentary estate planning document if an individual authorized to perform the notarization, acknowledgment, verification, or oath attaches or logically associates the individual's electronic signature on the document together with all other information required to be included under law.

Analysis

Colorado becomes the third state to enact the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act (UEEPDA) adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in 2022. The UEEPDA plugs a hole in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) that excludes from the scope of the UETA any electronic record that is not a “transaction” — defined as “an action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of business, commercial, or governmental affairs” (CRS 24-71.2-102[16]). UETA also excludes any record that is governed by a law “governing the creation and execution of wills, codicils, or testamentary trusts” (CRS 24-71.2-103[2][a]). Wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts are not considered “transactions” because they are not executed by at least two persons. The official comment on UETA Section 3 states, “The scope of this Act is inherently limited by the fact that it only applies to transactions related to business, commercial (including consumer) and governmental matters. Consequently, transactions with no relation to business, commercial or governmental transactions would not be subject to this Act. Unilaterally generated electronic records and signatures which are not part of a transaction also are not covered by this Act.” House Bill 24-1248 corrects this. It specifically covers estate documents which are “non-testamentary” — that is, documents which are not a will or contained in a will and include documents such as a certification of trust, a power of attorney, including for health care of the principal or of the principal's minor children, that is durable, a mental health advance directive, an intervivos trust, various trusts, and others.

Read House Bill 24-1248.