The only difference I see between this and what we already have with LegalZoom etc is that when I provide electronic drafts clients often like to print them out anyway, plus I sometimes have difficulty getting elderly clients to use email at all. If it takes off, fine — I charge for the value of my counsel and would love to ditch the paperwork if at all possible (which I doubt, currently).
While I suspect that electronic wills may open up a whole plethora of cases for trial attorneys well-versed in probate and trust administration law, it’s likely too early to tell what the practical effects of this legislation will have on Florida’s estate-planning bar. My personal suspicion is that those with larger estates will continue to prepare wills and trusts the traditional way with paper and attorneys, but those with smaller estates may find the ease and cost of electronic wills to be appealing. This speaks to my other posts on this contributing Xpert page as to whether your firm is in the business of doing simple transactions for your estate-planning clients or whether you’re entering into ongoing client value-creation relationships. Attorneys will probably not want to or even be able to compete in a transactional environment where price is the determinative factor. The advantage clearly goes to the large technological companies that can scale electronic will capabilities with programmers and web designers, not to mention having the resources to serve as qualified custodians.
Source: Florida Electronic Wills Act
