This summer the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws convened to finalize 2008 amendments to the Uniform Probate Code for recommendation to the states. You can view the 2008 approved amendments (red-line version) by clicking here.
It will be interesting to see whether Minnesota’s legislature adopts any of the new amendments. I’ve heard rumblings that “change is on the way” for parts of Minnesota’s probate code, but I don’t know anything specific. I would think that first up for change would be adjusting some of the amounts listed in the statutes for inflation.
One of the most interesting amendments to the UPC is that a will could either be signed by two witnesses or notarized. The comments to that amendment cite reduction in “confusion and chance for error” if all estate planning documents (e.g., power of attorney, health care directives) were executed with similar formalities. The comments also state that lay people often mistakenly assume that a notarized (but not witnessed) will is valid anyway.
Let me be clear that I’m speaking of the UPC here, not Minnesota’s version. No changes like this have been made to the Minnesota statutes– Minnesota still requires two witnesses. I hope that Minnesota does not end up adopting the notarized will amendments. Challenges to the testamentary capacity of the testator would certainly increase. It would be exchanging reduction in “confusion and chance for error” for increased litigation.
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