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MO House Bill 754

Legislation

State: Missouri
Signed: July 11, 2025

Effective: August 28, 2025
Chapter: TBD

Summary

House Bill 574 authorizes last wills and estate planning documents to be signed electronically both during normal times and a state of emergency.

Affects

Adds Sections 474.542, 474.544, 474.546, 474.548, 474.550, 474.552, 474.554, 474.556, 474.558, 474.560, 474.562, 474.564, and 474.600 to the Revised Statutes of Missouri.

Changes

Electronic Wills

  1. Defines key terms related to electronic wills.
  2. Provides that an electronic will is legally valid as a will under Missouri law.
  3. Provides that an electronic will can be made self-proving at the time of signing or later, either by following the existing process in RSMo 474.337 or, if fewer than 2 witnesses are physically present, through a Remote Online Notary using a specific certificate that meets requirements under RSMo 486.1165.
  4. Provides the form for the self-proving certificate of an electronic will.

Electronic Estate Planning Documents

  1. Provides that “estate planning documents” include items like powers of attorney, health care directives, trusts, beneficiary deeds, and nonprobate transfers, and others, as specified.
  2. Authorizes but does not require estate planning documents to be signed electronically.
  3. Provides that estate planning documents will still be valid even if they are in electronic form or signed electronically.
  4. Provides that existing Missouri laws and equitable principles continue to apply to electronic estate planning documents.

State of Emergency Provisions

  1. Defines “applicable state of emergency” as the period from April 6, 2020, to December 31, 2021, when COVID-19 emergency orders allowed remote signing and waived physical presence requirements.
  2. Defines “estate planning document” broadly to include wills, trusts, directives, powers of attorney, and related amendments or revocations, and others as specified.
  3. Defines “physical presence requirement” to include specific Missouri statutes and any rule requiring in-person signing.
  4. Provides that a person met the physical presence requirement during the emergency period if: (a) the signer said they were in Missouri; (b) the Notary was in Missouri and stated their county; (c) the Notary properly verified the signer’s identity; (d) signing was done through live, two-way video communication; and (e) the Notary recorded the method and time of the notarization in their journal.
  5. Provides that these requirements are also satisfied if a Missouri attorney was present during remote signing and later signs an acknowledgment in front of a qualified officer, with the officer’s official certificate attached.
  6. Provides the form for this acknowledgment, titled “Affidavit of Remote Execution of Documents.”

Analysis

House Bill 754 closes a gap in Missouri’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which previously excluded last wills and estate planning documents from being signed or notarized electronically. When the UETA was first passed two decades ago, the probate attorney lobby expressed concerns about allowing electronic signatures for these sensitive documents. House Bill 754 eliminates those exceptions, now allowing such documents to be electronically executed.

Under the new law, electronic signatures can be used for notarizing estate planning documents and for making a last will “self-proved.” The law specifically permits Online Notaries to notarize self-proving electronic wills.

The bill also addresses future emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Missouri — like many other states — temporarily waived in-person signing requirements. This was essential as many people became ill and needed to quickly create or update estate plans, even while isolated. House Bill 754 establishes clear rules for executing estate planning documents during similar emergencies in the future, ensuring people can still finalize their estate plans despite restrictions on physical gatherings.

Read House Bill 754.

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