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If you read between the lines of the article cited, anything can and probably will (for you) go wrong on using an American bank safety deposit box (for trust related matters). As with discussion on other threads in this forum, the underlying issue highlighted by the article is records (and misuse of paper records, specifically). Guess who always loses (you)!
i see why america is so resistant to electronic improvements to many legal system components. Paper simply facilitates the legal morass (in which professionals link bank officers thrive).
Is a licensed lawyerâs office safe equivalent to a bank/depository leased box, for trust purposes?
What if the box is not much more than some hotel-grade safe, in the shared co-working space used by the attorney as a principal place of business? Are there minimum standards, much like the standards imposed on lawyers using âtrustworthy (and audited)â IT equipment?
This is all interesting to me generally, as with e-trusts, some states require (e-record) depositories to be involved (when e-trust provisions are invoked). To understand those rules, itâs more than appropriate to look back at the equivalent use of depositories for paper trusts; and see the risk classes they handled and, according to the article, which they evidently failed to mitigate.
I keep reading about electronic wills and trusts, but it feels like the potential for fraud and undue influence is significantly higher with them, as opposed to traditional ink and paper execution. Remote notarization is tricky enough.
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My practice is to have the client come in to sign wills and trusts. If it's a situation where there is a possibility for undue influence (e.g., mom is leaving more to one child, and that child brings mom to the will signing), I make the child leave the room and question mom, in front of the witnesses, about her intent. Then I have the witnesses sign affidavits about what transpired, to keep in the file. But if it's a remote/electronic signing, I can't see any way to reduce or eliminate the chance of undue influence.