North Carolina Authorizes a New Kind of Will
On January 1, 2026, a new kind of will can be offered for probate in North Carolina. Session Law 2025-33, Part VIII adds a new Article 11 to Chapter 31 of the General Statutes, allowing an attested written will to be stored as an electronic record and later offered for probate as a certified paper copy.
An attested written will is one of two kinds of written wills currently recognized under North Carolina law. The other is a holographic, or handwritten, will. G.S. 31-3.2. Unlike a holographic will, which must be entirely in the handwriting of the testator (the person who makes the will) and requires no witnesses, an attested written will may be typed or handwritten and must be signed by the testator and at least two witnesses.
Attested written wills are relatively straightforward to probate pursuant to the requirements set out in G.S. 28A-2A-8, as long as the original attested written will can be located after the testator’s death. If it cannot, or if only a photocopy can be located, the attested written will becomes a “lost will” that can be difficult and costly to probate. To make matters worse, if the will was last in the possession of the testator, a rebuttable presumption arises that the testator intended to revoke the will.
The difficulty in probating a lost will, along with issues related to storage and safekeeping of wills, have given rise to a solution: the statutory ability to store an attested written will as an electronic record (also referred to in this post as an electronically stored will). This ability is coupled with a new statutory process for subsequently printing and offering the electronically stored will for probate after the testator’s death.
To create an electronically stored will, the attorney (at the testator’s direction) must create an electronic record of the testator’s written attested will. Id. The term “electronic” is defined as “relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities,” and the term “record” is defined as “information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.” G.S. 31-71(1); -71(2). Under the definitions in G.S. 31-71(1) and -71(2), an electronic record would include, but not be limited to, a digital file such as a PDF or JPEG.
The attorney creating the electronically stored will must add a statement signed by the attorney in the form of an affidavit sworn to or affirmed before an officer authorized to administer oaths to the record. G.S. 31-72(a). The affidavit must state that (1) the electronic record of the attested written will is a complete, true, and accurate copy of the attested written will, (2) the testator expressly authorized the attorney to create an electronic record of the attested written will, and (3) the testator has been advised that the creation of an electronic record of the testator’s attested written will eliminates the ability of the testator to revoke the attested written will by physical act.
For more information see Catherine Wilson “North Carolina Authorizes a New Kind of Will,” On the Civil Side, October 10, 2025