Can you sign a will electronically? A country-by-country guide

You have finished your will. Maybe a lawyer drafted it, maybe you used an online will service. The last instruction says: print it, sign it in front of two witnesses, keep the original safe. You have signed contracts, a mortgage offer and a job offer with a click, so why not this?

Because a will is the document that electronic signature laws most often leave out.

The short answer

• In most countries you cannot sign a valid will electronically. It must be signed on paper in front of witnesses, written entirely by hand, or made before a notary.
• There are real exceptions. Several US states have electronic wills statutes. British Columbia has allowed electronic wills since 1 December 2021. Victoria in Australia has a special remote procedure that allows electronic signing.
• Remote witnessing is not the same as an electronic will. Ontario and New South Wales let witnesses attend by video link, but the will is still signed on paper.
• England and Wales: not allowed yet. Temporary video witnessing ended on 31 January 2024, and the Law Commission recommended electronic wills in 2025, but Parliament has not yet passed a new law.
• Even where electronic wills are legal, the statute sets its own witnessing, storage or certification steps. An ordinary signing platform, including KovaPDF, does not carry out those steps for you.

Why wills are left out of e-signature laws

Most electronic signature laws say that an electronic signature cannot be refused just because it is electronic. Nearly all of them then list documents the rule does not cover, and wills are almost always on that list. In the United States, both the federal ESIGN Act (2000) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA, 1999) exclude wills, codicils and testamentary trusts. India, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa and Nigeria have similar exclusions.

The reason is practical. By the time anyone needs to rely on a will, the person who made it (the testator) has died and cannot be asked whether the signature is theirs, whether someone pressured them, or whether the file was changed. The formalities of paper, ink and two witnesses in the room protect against forgery and undue influence. They also make people stop and take the step seriously. Lawmakers have been slow to give that up.

Country-by-country overview

United States

The Uniform Law Commission approved the Uniform Electronic Wills Act in 2019. It lets a will be made, signed and witnessed electronically, and each state that adopts it decides whether witnesses must be physically present. A growing number of jurisdictions have enacted versions of it, including Colorado, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington and the US Virgin Islands. Some, such as Oklahoma and Washington, also adopted a companion uniform act covering other electronic estate planning documents. New York passed its own Electronic Wills Act in December 2025, with a delayed start date, so check whether it is in force before relying on it.

Other states wrote their own statutes: Nevada (first in 2001, largely rewritten in 2017), Indiana (2018), Arizona (2019), Florida (2020), Illinois (2021) and Maryland (2021). They differ in important ways. Indiana requires witnesses to be actually present with the testator. Illinois and Maryland allow remote witnessing, and Maryland adds a step in which a certified paper copy of the will is made. Nevada requires extra evidence of identity, such as an electronic notary's seal or the electronic signatures of attesting witnesses. Florida allows remote witnessing only through its online notary procedure, with extra safeguards and a qualified custodian holding the will.

In every other state a will is still signed on paper. The list grows as legislatures meet, so check your own state's current statute. Some states also have a "harmless error" rule that lets a court accept a will with a technical defect, but that is a rescue in court, not a plan.

England and Wales, and Scotland

Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, a will must be in writing and signed by the testator (or by someone at their direction) in the presence of two witnesses who are present at the same time. The witnesses then sign too.

During the pandemic, a temporary change allowed witnessing by video for wills made between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2024. It was only video witnessing, and the will was still signed on paper. It was not extended. For wills signed from 1 February 2024, the witnesses must be physically present again.

In May 2025 the Law Commission published its report Modernising Wills Law, with a draft Bill to replace the 1837 Act. It recommends that electronic wills be valid if they are made on a "reliable system" that can confirm identity, prevent tampering and keep a clear record. That is a recommendation only. Parliament has to pass new law before an electronic will is valid in England and Wales.

In Scotland, the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 allows most documents to be signed electronically, but wills, codicils and other testamentary documents are excluded. They must still be signed on paper.

Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the EU

The EU's eIDAS Regulation gives a qualified electronic signature (QES), the highest level of EU e-signature, the same effect as a handwritten signature. It leaves each country's rules on the form of a document untouched, however. The major civil-law countries all require a will to be handwritten or made before a notary. See our EU overview.

• Germany: a private will must be written and signed entirely by the testator's own hand (section 2247 of the Civil Code, BGB). The alternative is a public will made before a notary. A QES does not satisfy "own hand".
• France: a testament olographe must be written entirely, dated and signed by hand (Article 970 of the Civil Code). The alternative is a testament authentique before notaries.
• Spain: a testamento ológrafo must be handwritten and signed by the testator. Most people use an open notarial will instead.
• Italy: a testamento olografo must be handwritten, dated and signed (Article 602 of the Civil Code). The alternative is a public will made before a notary and witnesses.

Canada

British Columbia changed its Wills, Estates and Succession Act so that, from 1 December 2021, a will can be fully electronic. It can be signed electronically, witnessed remotely and stored electronically. It was the first Canadian province to do this.

Ontario made remote witnessing by live audio-video link permanent in 2021, provided at least one witness is a lawyer or paralegal licensed by the Law Society. The will is still a paper document, which may be signed in identical counterparts. Ontario's Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 still excludes wills and codicils. Other provinces and territories have their own rules, so check locally.

Australia

• Victoria: since 2021, section 8A of the Wills Act 1997 allows a remote execution procedure. The will can be signed electronically and witnessed over an audio-visual link. One witness must be a "special witness", such as a lawyer or justice of the peace, and every step must happen on the same day in Victoria.
• New South Wales: remote witnessing by audio-visual link was made permanent in 2021, but wills still need wet-ink signatures.
• Queensland: the temporary pandemic arrangements ended, so witnesses must again be physically present.

Australian courts can also accept an informal document as a will if they are satisfied it was meant to be one. The best-known example is Re Nichol (2017), where the Supreme Court of Queensland accepted an unsent text message. Such cases are expensive, uncertain and usually contested, so they are a safety net, not a way to make a will.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

• India: the First Schedule of the Information Technology Act 2000 excludes wills and other testamentary dispositions. A 2022 amendment narrowed some other exclusions but left wills out. Under the Indian Succession Act 1925, a will is signed and attested by two witnesses. Registering it is optional.
• Pakistan: section 31 of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance 2002 says the Ordinance does not apply to a will or any other testamentary disposition.
• Bangladesh: we could not find an exclusion list in the ICT Act 2006 like India's. Wills are governed by personal law and by the Succession Act 1925 for many communities, and in practice they are made on paper with witnesses. Treat an electronically signed will as untested and check locally.

Singapore, UAE, South Africa, Nigeria, the Philippines and Japan

• Singapore: the First Schedule of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010 still excludes the creation or execution of a will. Some other exclusions were removed in 2021, but not this one.
• UAE: the old Federal Law No. 1 of 2006 excluded wills and personal status matters. Federal Decree-Law No. 46 of 2021 dropped that fixed list but lets the Cabinet exclude transactions. Non-Muslim residents usually register wills through the DIFC Wills Service Centre or the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, which run their own formal procedures. Check locally before relying on anything else.
• South Africa: the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 (ECTA) excludes wills and codicils, which remain under the Wills Act 7 of 1953. Courts have a power to accept a document that does not meet the formalities, and have used it in unusual cases, but a court application is not a substitute for a properly signed will.
• Nigeria: section 17(2) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 excludes wills, codicils and other testamentary documents from electronic signature validity.
• Philippines: the Civil Code recognises a notarial will (signed before three witnesses and acknowledged before a notary) and a holographic will (entirely handwritten, dated and signed). Both are paper-based. Check locally before trying anything else.
• Japan: a self-written will (jihitsu shōsho igon) must be handwritten. Since 2019 the attached list of assets may be typed, provided each page is signed. Since 2020, such wills can be deposited with the Legal Affairs Bureau. In June 2026 the Diet passed a Civil Code amendment creating a digital will. It can be made on a computer or phone and stored at the Legal Affairs Bureau after the testator reads it aloud to staff. The system is due to start within three years of enactment. Until then, the handwritten rules apply.

What you can do online, and what must happen on paper

Even where an electronic will is not allowed, most of the work can still happen on a screen:

1. Draft and review. Share drafts with family or your lawyer as PDFs, and mark each one "DRAFT – not signed" so nobody mistakes it for the real will.
2. Prepare a clean final PDF. Check page numbers, initials boxes (if your lawyer uses them), and the attestation clause with space for witness names and addresses.
3. Print and sign on paper. Follow your jurisdiction's rules to the letter: who may witness (usually not beneficiaries or their spouses), whether witnesses must be together, and where everyone signs.
4. Store the original safely, and tell your executor where it is. A scan is useful as a reference copy but is not the will.

A letter of wishes that sits alongside a will is usually not legally binding, and people often sign it electronically. Be careful. In countries where courts can accept informal documents as wills, a document that looks as if it disposes of property could be argued to be one. Keep its wording clearly non-binding.

Lasting powers of attorney: the near cousin

Powers of attorney are the other document most often left out of e-signature laws.

• England and Wales: a lasting power of attorney (LPA) is signed and witnessed on the Office of the Public Guardian's forms. The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 allows a move to a digital process, so check the Office of the Public Guardian's current instructions before you sign.
• India: powers of attorney remain excluded under the IT Act 2000. The 2022 amendment only released powers of attorney granted to entities regulated by bodies such as the RBI and SEBI.
• Pakistan excludes powers of attorney in the same section as wills. Ontario excludes powers of attorney for property and personal care.
• Victoria's remote procedure also covers enduring powers of attorney. New South Wales allows audio-visual witnessing of them, but still with wet ink.

Where KovaPDF fits (and where it does not)

• No online signing tool can make a valid will where the law requires paper, handwriting or witnesses in the room. That includes KovaPDF.
• Sign PDF and Request Signatures produce simple electronic signatures. Request Signatures adds an audit trail and a trusted timestamp. These are fine for the paperwork around an estate, such as engagement letters with a lawyer, family agreements about who handles what, or an executor's acknowledgement where your law accepts electronic signatures. They do not make a will.
• In a state or province that allows electronic wills, use a lawyer or a service built for that law. Those statutes have specific witnessing, custody and certification steps.
• If someone sends you a digitally signed estate document, Verify PDF Signature shows whether it has changed since it was signed and who signed it.