As Introduced

134th General Assembly

Regular Session S. B. No. 230

2021-2022

A BILL

To amend sections 317.32, 1337.11, 1337.12, 1337.22, 1337.25, 2107.01, 2107.03, 2107.07, 2107.17, 2107.18, 2107.24, 2107.27, 2107.29, 2107.30, 2107.31, 2107.33, 2107.60, 2107.63, 2129.05, 2133.01, 2133.02, 5302.22, 5817.01, and 5817.05 and to enact sections 1337.121 and 2107.031 of the Revised Code to expand the laws on wills, declarations or living wills, durable powers of attorney for health care, and transfer on death designation affidavits by providing for their execution electronically.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 317.32, 1337.11, 1337.12, 1337.22, 1337.25, 2107.01, 2107.03, 2107.07, 2107.17, 2107.18, 2107.24, 2107.27, 2107.29, 2107.30, 2107.31, 2107.33, 2107.60, 2107.63, 2129.05, 2133.01, 2133.02, 5302.22, 5817.01, and 5817.05 be amended and sections 1337.121 and 2107.031 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 317.32. The county recorder shall charge and collect the following fees, to include, except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, base fees for the recorder's services and housing trust fund fees collected pursuant to section 317.36 of the Revised Code:

(A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, for recording and indexing an instrument if the photocopy or any similar process is employed, a base fee of seventeen dollars for the first two pages and a housing trust fund fee of seventeen dollars, and a base fee of four dollars and a housing trust fund fee of four dollars for each subsequent page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction of a page, including the caption page, of such instrument;

(2) For recording and indexing an instrument described in division (D) of section 317.08 of the Revised Code if the photocopy or any similar process is employed, a fee of twenty-eight dollars for the first two pages to be deposited as specified elsewhere in this division, and a fee of eight dollars to be deposited in the same manner for each subsequent page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction of a page, including the caption page, of that instrument. If the county recorder's technology fund has been established under section 317.321 of the Revised Code, of the twenty-eight dollars, fourteen dollars shall be deposited into the county treasury to the credit of the county recorder's technology fund and fourteen dollars shall be deposited into the county treasury to the credit of the county general fund. If the county recorder's technology fund has not been established, the twenty-eight dollars shall be deposited into the county treasury to the credit of the county general fund.

(B) For certifying a photocopy from the record previously recorded, a base fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund fee of one dollar per page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction of a page; for each certification if the recorder's seal is required, except as to instruments issued by the armed forces of the United States, a base fee of fifty cents and a housing trust fund fee of fifty cents;

(C) For entering any marginal reference by separate recorded instrument, a base fee of two dollars and a housing trust fund fee of two dollars for each marginal reference set out in that instrument, in addition to the fees set forth in division (A)(1) of this section;

(D) For indexing in the real estate mortgage records, pursuant to section 1309.519 of the Revised Code, financing statements covering crops growing or to be grown, timber to be cut, minerals or the like, including oil and gas, accounts subject to section 1309.301 of the Revised Code, or fixture filings made pursuant to section 1309.334 of the Revised Code, a base fee of two dollars and a housing trust fund fee of two dollars for each name indexed;

(E) For filing zoning resolutions, including text and maps, in the office of the recorder as required under sections 303.11 and 519.11 of the Revised Code, a base fee of twenty-five dollars and a housing trust fund fee of twenty-five dollars, regardless of the size or length of the resolutions;

(F) For filing zoning amendments, including text and maps, in the office of the recorder as required under sections 303.12 and 519.12 of the Revised Code, a base fee of ten dollars and a housing trust fund fee of ten dollars regardless of the size or length of the amendments;

(G) For photocopying a document, other than at the time of recording and indexing as provided for in division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, a base fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund fee of one dollar per page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction thereof;

(H) For local facsimile transmission of a document, a base fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund fee of one dollar per page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction thereof; for long distance facsimile transmission of a document, a base fee of two dollars and a housing trust fund fee of two dollars per page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction thereof;

(I) For recording a declaration executed pursuant to section 2133.02 of the Revised Code or a durable power of attorney for health care executed pursuant to section 1337.12 of the Revised Code, or both a declaration and a durable power of attorney for health care, a base fee of at least fourteen dollars but not more than twenty dollars and a housing trust fund fee of at least fourteen dollars but not more than twenty dollars. The instrument, if electronically executed under either of those sections, whichever is applicable, is recorded under this division by presenting a copy of a declaration, as defined in section 2133.01 of the Revised Code, or an electronic durable power of attorney for health care retrieved and copied in readable text as described in section 1337.121 of the Revised Code.

In any county in which the recorder employs the photostatic or any similar process for recording maps, plats, or prints the recorder shall determine, charge, and collect for the recording or rerecording of any map, plat, or print, a base fee of five cents and a housing trust fund fee of five cents per square inch, for each square inch of the map, plat, or print filed for that recording or rerecording, with a minimum base fee of twenty dollars and a minimum housing trust fund fee of twenty dollars; for certifying a copy from the record, a base fee of two cents and a housing trust fund fee of two cents per square inch of the record, with a minimum base fee of two dollars and a minimum housing trust fund fee of two dollars.

The fees provided in this section shall be paid upon the presentation of the instruments for record or upon the application for any certified copy of the record, except that the payment of fees for providing copies of instruments conveying or extinguishing agricultural easements to the office of farmland preservation in the department of agriculture under division (H) of section 5301.691 of the Revised Code shall be governed by that division.

The fees provided for in this section shall not apply to the recording, indexing, or making of a certified copy or to the filing of any instrument by a county land reutilization corporation, its wholly owned subsidiary, or any other electing subdivision as defined in section 5722.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 1337.11. As used in sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older.

(B) "Attending physician" means the physician to whom a principal or the family of a principal has assigned primary responsibility for the treatment or care of the principal or, if the responsibility has not been assigned, the physician who has accepted that responsibility.

(1) Nutrition when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death;

(2) Hydration when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death;

(3) Any other medical or nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that is taken to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death.

(D) "Consulting physician" means a physician who, in conjunction with the attending physician of a principal, makes one or more determinations that are required to be made by the attending physician, or to be made by the attending physician and one other physician, by an applicable provision of sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

(E) "Declaration for mental health treatment" has the same meaning as in section 2135.01 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code to have the care and management of the person of an incompetent.

(G) "Health care" means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat an individual's physical or mental condition or physical or mental health.

(H) "Health care decision" means informed consent, refusal to give informed consent, or withdrawal of informed consent to health care.

(I) "Health care facility" means any of the following:

(1) A hospital;

(2) A hospice care program, pediatric respite care program, or other institution that specializes in comfort care of patients in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state;

(3) A nursing home;

(4) A home health agency;

(5) An intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities;

(6) A regulated community mental health organization.

(J) "Health care personnel" means physicians, nurses, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians-basic, emergency medical technicians-intermediate, emergency medical technicians-paramedic, medical technicians, dietitians, other authorized persons acting under the direction of an attending physician, and administrators of health care facilities.

(K) "Home health agency" has the same meaning as in section 3740.01 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Hospice care program" and "pediatric respite care program" have the same meanings as in section 3712.01 of the Revised Code.

(M) "Hospital" has the same meanings as in sections 3701.01, 3727.01, and 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(N) "Hydration" means fluids that are artificially or technologically administered.

(O) "Incompetent" has the same meaning as in section 2111.01 of the Revised Code.

(P) "Intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities" has the same meaning as in section 5124.01 of the Revised Code.

(Q) "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that, when administered to a principal, will serve principally to prolong the process of dying.

(R) "Medical claim" has the same meaning as in section 2305.113 of the Revised Code.

(S) "Mental health treatment" has the same meaning as in section 2135.01 of the Revised Code.

(T) "Nursing home" has the same meaning as in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code.

(U) "Nutrition" means sustenance that is artificially or technologically administered.

(V) "Permanently unconscious state" means a state of permanent unconsciousness in a principal that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by the principal's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the principal, is characterized by both of the following:

(1) Irreversible unawareness of one's being and environment.

(2) Total loss of cerebral cortical functioning, resulting in the principal having no capacity to experience pain or suffering.

(W) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and additionally includes political subdivisions and governmental agencies, boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and other instrumentalities.

(X) "Physician" means a person who is authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(Y) "Political subdivision" and "state" have the same meanings as in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.

(Z) "Professional disciplinary action" means action taken by the board or other entity that regulates the professional conduct of health care personnel, including the state medical board and the board of nursing.

(AA) "Regulated community mental health organization" means a residential facility as defined and licensed under section 5119.34 of the Revised Code or a community mental health services provider as defined in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(BB) "Terminal condition" means an irreversible, incurable, and untreatable condition caused by disease, illness, or injury from which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by a principal's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the principal, both of the following apply:

(1) There can be no recovery.

(2) Death is likely to occur within a relatively short time if life-sustaining treatment is not administered.

(CC) "Tort action" means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property, other than a civil action for damages for a breach of contract or another agreement between persons.

(DD) "Electronic," "electronically," "electronic presence," "record," "sign," and "vulnerable adult" have the same meanings as in section 2107.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 1337.12. (A)(1) An adult who is of sound mind voluntarily may create a valid durable power of attorney for health care by executing a durable power of attorney, in accordance with section 1337.24 of the Revised Code, that authorizes an attorney in fact as described in division (A)(2) of this section to make health care decisions for the principal at any time that the attending physician of the principal determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal. The durable power of attorney for health care may authorize the attorney in fact, commencing immediately upon the execution of the instrument or at any subsequent time and regardless of whether the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions, to obtain information concerning the principal's health, including protected health information as defined in 45 C.F.R. 160.103. Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code, the authorization may include the right to give informed consent, to refuse to give informed consent, or to withdraw informed consent to any health care that is being or could be provided to the principal. Additionally, to be valid, a durable power of attorney for health care shall satisfy both of the following:

(a) It If a durable power of attorney for health care is in writing, it shall be signed at the end of the instrument by the principal and shall state the date of its execution. If a durable power of attorney for health care is executed electronically, the principal shall sign the record associated with, and at the end of, the instrument and shall state the date of its execution.

(b) It shall be witnessed in accordance with division (B) of this section or be acknowledged by the principal in accordance with division (C) of this section.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division, a durable power of attorney for health care may designate any competent adult as the attorney in fact. The attending physician of the principal and an administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is receiving care shall not be designated as an attorney in fact in, or act as an attorney in fact pursuant to, a durable power of attorney for health care. An employee or agent of the attending physician of the principal and an employee or agent of any health care facility in which the principal is being treated shall not be designated as an attorney in fact in, or act as an attorney in fact pursuant to, a durable power of attorney for health care, except that these limitations do not preclude a principal from designating either type of employee or agent as the principal's attorney in fact if the individual is a competent adult and related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, or if the individual is a competent adult and the principal and the individual are members of the same religious order.

(3) A durable power of attorney for health care shall not expire, unless the principal specifies an expiration date in the instrument. However, when a durable power of attorney contains an expiration date, if the principal lacks the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal on the expiration date, the instrument shall continue in effect until the principal regains the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal.

(B) If witnessed for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall be witnessed by at least two individuals who are adults and who are not ineligible to be witnesses under this division. Any person who is related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, any person who is designated as the attorney in fact or alternate attorney in fact in the instrument, the attending physician of the principal, and the administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is receiving care are ineligible to be witnesses.

The witnessing of a durable power of attorney for health care shall involve the principal signing the applicable instrument as described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section, or acknowledging the principal's signature, at the end of the instrument in the physical presence or electronic presence, as applicable, of each witness. A witness for a durable power of attorney for health care that is electronically executed may be in either the physical or electronic presence of the principal. A witness for a durable power of attorney for health care that is executed electronically in the electronic presence of the principal shall be located within this state. A witness for a durable power of attorney for health care that is executed electronically by the principal who is a vulnerable adult shall sign the durable power of attorney for health care in the physical presence of the principal. Then, each witness shall subscribe the witness's signature after the signature of the principal and, by doing so, attest to the witness's belief that the principal appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence. The signatures of the principal and the witnesses under this division are not required to appear on the same page of the instrument.

(C)(1) If acknowledged for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall be acknowledged before a notary public~~, who~~. The notary public shall make the certification described in section 147.53 of the Revised Code and also shall attest that the principal appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence.

(2) If the durable power of attorney for health care is executed electronically, the notary public performing the certification and attestation described in division (C)(1) of this section shall do so through an electronic notarization, pursuant to section 147.591 of the Revised Code, or as an online notarization pursuant to sections 147.60 to 147.66 of the Revised Code.

(D)(1) If a principal has both a valid durable power of attorney for health care and a valid declaration, division (B) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code applies. If a principal has both a valid durable power of attorney for health care and a DNR identification that is based upon a valid declaration and if the declaration supersedes the durable power of attorney for health care under division (B) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code, the DNR identification supersedes the durable power of attorney for health care to the extent of any conflict between the two. A valid durable power of attorney for health care supersedes any DNR identification that is based upon a do-not-resuscitate order that a physician issued for the principal which is inconsistent with the durable power of attorney for health care or a valid decision by the attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney.

(2) As used in division (D) of this section:

(a) "Declaration" has the same meaning as in section 2133.01 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Do-not-resuscitate order" and "DNR identification" have the same meanings as in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(E)(1) In a durable power of attorney for health care, a principal may nominate a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both for consideration by a court if proceedings for the appointment of a guardian for the principal's person, estate, or both are commenced at a later time. The principal may authorize the person nominated as the guardian or the attorney in fact to nominate a successor guardian for consideration by the court. The principal's nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both is revoked by the principal's subsequent nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both, and, except for good cause shown or disqualification, the court shall make its appointment in accordance with the principal's most recent nomination.

(2) The principal may direct that bond be waived for a person nominated as guardian or successor guardian under division (E)(1) of this section.

(3) A durable power of attorney for health care that contains the nomination of a person to be the guardian of the person, estate, or both of the principal may be filed with the probate court for safekeeping, and the probate court shall designate the nomination as the nomination of a standby guardian.

(4) If a guardian is appointed for the principal, a durable power of attorney for health care is not terminated, and the authority of the attorney in fact continues unless the court, pursuant to its authority under section 2111.50 of the Revised Code, limits, suspends, or terminates the power of attorney after notice to the attorney in fact and upon a finding that the limitation, suspension, or termination is in the best interest of the principal.

Sec. 1337.121. A durable power of attorney for health care executed electronically under section 1337.12 of the Revised Code may include some or all of the information specified in the printed form of the instrument in section 1337.17 of the Revised Code according to the intention of the principal. The record of an electronic durable power of attorney for health care may be retrieved and copied in readable text.

Sec. 1337.22. As used in sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Agent" means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney in fact, or otherwise. "Agent" includes an original agent, coagent, successor agent, and a person to which an agent's authority is delegated.

(B) "Durable," with respect to a power of attorney, means not terminated by the principal's incapacity.

(C) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(D) "Good faith" means honesty in fact.

(E) "Incapacity" means inability of an individual to manage property or business affairs for either of the following reasons:

(1) The individual has an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions even with the use of technological assistance.

(2) The individual is any of the following:

(a) Missing;

(b) Detained, including incarcerated in a penal system;

(F) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(G) "Power of attorney" means a writing or other record that grants authority to an agent to act in the place of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used.

(H) "Presently exercisable general power of appointment," with respect to property or a property interest subject to a power of appointment, means power exercisable at the time in question to vest absolute ownership in the principal individually, the principal's estate, the principal's creditors, or the creditors of the principal's estate. The term includes a power of appointment not exercisable until the occurrence of a specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable standard, or the passage of a specified period only after the occurrence of the specified event, the satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or the passage of the specified period. The term does not include a power exercisable in a fiduciary capacity or only by will.

(I) "Principal" means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.

(J) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or legal or equitable, or any interest or right therein.

(K) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(L) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to execute or adopt a tangible symbol or to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process.

(M) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(N) "Stocks and bonds" means stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all other types of securities and financial instruments, whether held directly, indirectly, or in any other manner, but does not include commodity futures contracts or call or put options on stocks or stock indexes.

(O) "Conscious presence" means within the range of any of the principal's senses, excluding the sense of sight or sound that is sensed by telephonic, electronic, or other distant communication.

(P) "Electronic presence" has the same meaning as in section 2107.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 1337.25. (A) A power of attorney ~~must~~ shall be signed by the principal or in the principal's conscious presence or electronic presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign the principal's name on the power of attorney. A signature on a power of attorney is presumed to be genuine if the principal or the principal and other individual directed by the principal to sign the principal's name acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

(B) If a power of attorney is executed electronically, the principal's signature shall only be acknowledged before a notary public performing an electronic notarization, pursuant to section 147.591 of the Revised Code, or an online notarization pursuant to sections 147.60 to 147.66 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2107.01. As Unless the context otherwise requires, as used in Chapters 2101. to 2131. of the Revised Code:

(A)(1) "Will" includes ~~codicils~~ the following:

(a) Codicils to wills admitted to probate~~, lost~~;

(b) Lost, spoliated, or destroyed wills~~, and instruments~~;

(d) Electronic wills and copies of electronic wills.

(2) "Will" does not include inter vivos trusts or other instruments that have not been admitted to probate.

(B) "Testator" means any person who makes a will.

(D) "Electronic" or "electronically" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(E) "Electronic presence" means the relationship of two or more individuals in different locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically present in the same location.

(F) "Electronic will" means a will that is executed electronically pursuant to section 2107.03 of the Revised Code, and includes a copy of an electronic will.

(G) "Original will" means the original will in writing or the copy of an electronic will that is offered for or admitted to probate.

(H) "Record" means information that is inscribed in a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(I) "Sign" means to do either of the following with the present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

(1) Execute or adopt a tangible symbol;

(2) Affix to or logically associate with a record an electronic symbol or process.

(J) "Vulnerable adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older and whose ability to perform the normal activities of daily living or to provide for the person's own care or protection is impaired due to a mental, emotional, sensory, or long-term physical or developmental, disability or dysfunction, or brain damage, or the debilitating infirmities of aging.

(K) "Will annexed" means the original will, a copy of the original will in writing, or a copy of the electronic will, whichever is applicable.

Sec. 2107.03. (A) Except oral wills governed by section 2107.60 of the Revised Code, every will shall be in writing, ~~but may be~~ including handwritten or typewritten, or be an electronic will.

(B)(1) Both of the following apply to a will in writing:

(a) The will shall be signed at the end by the testator or by some other person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's express direction.

(b) The will shall be attested and subscribed in the conscious presence of the testator, by two or more competent witnesses, who saw the testator subscribe, or heard the testator acknowledge the testator's signature.

(2) For purposes of division (B)(1) of this section, "conscious presence" means within the range of any of the testator's senses, excluding the sense of sight or sound that is sensed by telephonic, electronic, or other distant communication.

(1) The will shall be a record that is readable as text at the time it is signed under divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section.

(2) The will shall be signed at the end by the testator or by another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's physical presence or electronic presence, and by the testator's direction.

(3) The will shall be signed in the physical presence or electronic presence of the testator by two or more competent witnesses and all of the following apply:

(a) If the witnesses sign the will in the electronic presence of the testator, they shall be located in this state.

(b) If the testator is a vulnerable adult, the witnesses shall sign the will in the physical presence of the testator.

(c) The witnesses shall sign the will within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing of the will under division (C)(2) of this section.

(d) The witnesses shall subscribe and attest their signatures to the will.

(D)(1) The procedures under divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section shall be recorded by electronic media containing both audio and visual components. The format of the recording shall be preserved and stored in a safe, secure, and appropriate manner.

(2) The process of recording under division (D)(1) of this section shall ensure the following:

(a) That the person executing the electronic will is the testator of the will;

(b) That the persons signing the electronic will under divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section verbally acknowledge that they have signed the electronic will, that they recognize the consequences of their signing the electronic will, and that they understand the significance of the electronic will.

(E) A copy of the electronic will shall be provided to the testator of that electronic will.

(F) The intent of the testator that the record described in division (C)(1) of this section is the testator's electronic will may be established by extrinsic evidence.

Sec. 2107.031. (A) On and after the effective date of this section, the laws of this state that are applicable to wills apply to electronic wills unless it is clear from the context or meaning of a particular provision of the law that it applies only to a will in writing or a will other than an electronic will.

(B) The principles of equity apply to an electronic will.

Sec. 2107.07. (A)(1) A will in writing may be deposited by the testator, or by some person for the testator, in the office of the judge of the probate court in the county in which the testator lives, before or after the death of the testator, and if deposited after the death of the testator, with or without applying for its probate.

(2) A copy of an electronic will shall be deposited by the testator or by some other person for the testator, in the office of the judge of the probate court in the county in which the testator lives, before or after the death of the testator. A copy of an electronic will may be deposited after the death of the testator with or without applying for its probate. If a copy of an electronic will is deposited by some person for the testator under this division, that person shall attach with that copy an affidavit attested to by the testator authorizing the person to deposit the copy of the electronic will under this division.

(B) Upon the payment of the fee of twenty-five dollars to the court, the judge shall receive, keep, and give a certificate of deposit for the will. That will shall be safely kept until delivered or disposed of as provided by section 2107.08 of the Revised Code. If the will is not delivered or disposed of as provided in that section within one hundred years after the date the will was deposited, the judge may dispose of the will in any manner the judge considers feasible. The judge shall retain an electronic copy of the will prior to its disposal after one hundred years under this section.

(C) Every will that is so deposited under division (A)(1) of this section shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope that shall be indorsed with the name of the testator. The judge shall indorse on the envelope the date of delivery and the person by whom the will was delivered. The envelope may be indorsed with the name of a person to whom it is to be delivered after the death of the testator. Every will deposited under division (A)(2) of this section shall be stored in a separate file in the court's records and contain information analogous to that required for wills in writing. The will shall not be opened or read until delivered to a person entitled to receive it, until the testator files a complaint in the probate court for a declaratory judgment of the validity of the will pursuant to section 5817.02 of the Revised Code, or until otherwise disposed of as provided in section 2107.08 of the Revised Code. Subject to section 2107.08 of the Revised Code, the deposited will shall not be a public record until the time that an application is filed to probate it.

Sec. 2107.17. When a witness to a will, or other witness competent to testify at a probate or declaratory judgment proceeding, resides out of its jurisdiction, or resides within it but is infirm and unable to attend court, the probate court may issue a commission with the will annexed directed to any suitable person. In lieu of the original will, the probate court, in its discretion, may annex to the commission a photocopy of the original will or a copy of ~~the~~ that will made by any similar process. The person to whom the commission is directed shall take the deposition or authorize the taking of the deposition of the witness as provided by the Rules of Civil Procedure. The testimony, certified and returned, shall be admissible and have the same effect in the proceedings as if taken in open court.

Sec. 2107.18. The probate court shall admit a will to probate if it appears from the face of the will, or if the probate court requires, in its discretion, the testimony of the witnesses to a will and it appears from that testimony, that the execution of the will complies with the law in force at the time of the execution of the will in the jurisdiction in which ~~the testator was physically present when~~ it was executed, with the law in force in this state at the time of the death of the testator, or with the law in force in the jurisdiction in which the testator was domiciled at the time of the testator's death.

The probate court shall admit a will to probate when there has been a prior judgment by a court declaring that the will is valid, rendered pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5817.10 of the Revised Code, if the will has not been revoked.

Sec. 2107.24. (A) If a document that is executed that purports to be a will in writing is not executed in compliance with the requirements of division (B) of section 2107.03 of the Revised Code, that document shall be treated as if it had been executed as a will in writing in compliance with the requirements of that ~~section~~ division if a probate court, after holding a hearing, finds that the proponent of the document as a purported will in writing has established, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:

(1) The decedent prepared the document or caused the document to be prepared.

(2) The decedent signed the document and intended the document to constitute the decedent's will.

(3) The decedent signed the document under division (A)(2) of this section in the conscious presence of two or more witnesses. As used in division (A)(3) of this section, "conscious presence" means within the range of any of the witnesses' senses, excluding the sense of sight or sound that is sensed by telephonic, electronic, or other distant communication.

(B) ~~If the~~ If a document that is executed that purports to be an electronic will is not executed in compliance with the requirements of division (C) of section 2107.03 of the Revised Code, that document shall be treated as if it had been executed as an electronic will in compliance with the requirements of that division if a probate court, after holding a hearing, finds that the proponent of the document as a purported electronic will has established, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:

(1) The decedent prepared the document or caused the document to be prepared.

(2) The decedent signed the document and intended the document to constitute the decedent's will.

(3) The requirements of division (C) of section 2107.03 of the Revised Code were complied with.

(C) The executor may file an action in the probate court to recover court costs and attorney's fees from the attorney, if any, responsible for the execution of the document if either of the following applies:

(1) The probate court holds a hearing pursuant to division (A) of this section and finds that the proponent of the document as a purported will in writing has established by clear and convincing evidence the requirements under divisions (A)(1), (2), and (3) of this section~~, the executor may file an action in the probate court to recover court costs and attorney's fees from the attorney, if any, responsible for the execution of the document~~.

(2) The probate court holds a hearing pursuant to division (B) of this section and finds that the proponent of the document as a purported electronic will has established by clear and convincing evidence the requirements under divisions (B)(1), (2), and (3) of this section.

Sec. 2107.27. (A) When application is made to the probate court to admit to probate a will that has been lost, spoliated, or destroyed as provided in section 2107.26 of the Revised Code or a document that is treated as a will as provided in section 2107.24 of the Revised Code, the party seeking to prove the will shall give a written notice by certified mail to the surviving spouse of the testator, to all persons who would be entitled to inherit from the testator under Chapter 2105. of the Revised Code if the testator had died intestate, to all legatees and devisees that are named in the will, and to all legatees and devisees that are named in the most recent will prior to the lost, spoliated, or destroyed will that is known to the applicant or in the most recent will prior to the document that is treated as a will if the most recent will is known to the applicant.

(B) In the cases described in division (A) of this section, the proponents and opponents of the will shall cause the witnesses to the will, and any other witnesses that have relevant and material knowledge about the will, to appear before the court to testify. If any witnesses reside out of its jurisdiction, or reside within its jurisdiction but are infirm or unable to attend, the probate court may order their testimony to be taken and reduced to writing by some competent person. The testimony shall be filed in the records of the probate court pertaining to the testator's estate.

(C) If upon such proof the court finds that the requirements of section 2107.24 or 2107.26 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable, have been met, the probate court shall find and establish the contents of the will as near as can be ascertained. The contents of the will established under section 2107.26 of the Revised Code shall be as effectual for all purposes as if the original will had been admitted to probate and record. The contents of the will established under section 2107.24 of the Revised Code shall be as effectual for all purposes as if the document treated as a will had satisfied all of the requirements of division (B) or (C) of section 2107.03 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable, and had been admitted to probate and record.

Sec. 2107.29. When the court record of a will is destroyed, a copy of the will or a copy of the will and its probate may be recorded by the probate court if it appears to the court's satisfaction that the court record has been destroyed and if it appears, by reason of a certificate signed and sealed by the probate judge, that the copy is a true copy of the original will or a true copy of the original will and its probate.

Sec. 2107.30. When the court record of a will has been destroyed, the original will may again be admitted to probate and record.

Sec. 2107.31. Sections 2107.29 and 2107.30 of the Revised Code do not affect the proceedings or extend the time for contesting the validity of any will or for asserting rights ~~thereunder~~ under the will. The court record provided for in ~~such~~ those sections ~~must~~ shall show that the original court record was destroyed, and the time, as near as may be, when the will was originally admitted to probate and record.

Sec. 2107.33. (A) A will in writing shall be revoked in any of the following manners:

(1) By the testator by tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying it with the intention of revoking it;

(2) By some person, at the request of the testator and in the testator's physical presence, by tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying it with the intention of revoking it;

(3) By some person tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying it pursuant to the testator's express written direction;

(4) By some other written will or codicil or by an electronic will, executed as prescribed by this chapter;

(5) By some other writing that is signed, attested, and subscribed in the manner provided by this chapter.

(B)(1) An electronic will shall be revoked in either of the following manners:

(a) By the testator's subsequent will that revokes all or part of the electronic will expressly or by inconsistency;

(b) By a physical act, if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the testator, with the intent of revoking all or part of the will, performed the act or directed another individual who performed the act in the physical presence of the testator.

(2) As used in division (B)(1)(b) of this section, "physical act" includes, but is not limited to, using a delete or trash function on the computer pertaining to the electronic will or typing or writing "revoked" on an electronic or printed copy of the electronic will.

(C) If after executing a will, a testator is divorced, obtains a dissolution of marriage, has the testator's marriage annulled, or, upon actual separation from the testator's spouse, enters into a separation agreement pursuant to which the parties intend to fully and finally settle their prospective property rights in the property of the other, whether by expected inheritance or otherwise, any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse or to a trust with powers created by or available to the former spouse, any provision in the will conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination in the will of the former spouse as executor, trustee, or guardian shall be revoked unless the will expressly provides otherwise.

~~(C)~~ (D) Property prevented from passing to a former spouse or to a trust with powers created by or available to the former spouse because of revocation by this section shall pass as if the former spouse failed to survive the decedent, and other provisions conferring some power or office on the former spouse shall be interpreted as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent. If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they shall be deemed to be revived by the testator's remarriage with the former spouse or upon the termination of a separation agreement executed by them.

~~(D)~~ (E) A bond, agreement, or covenant made by a testator, for a valuable consideration, to convey property previously devised or bequeathed in a will does not revoke the devise or bequest. The property passes by the devise or bequest, subject to the remedies on the bond, agreement, or covenant, for a specific performance or otherwise, against the devisees or legatees, that might be had by law against the heirs of the testator, or the testator's next of kin, if the property had descended to them.

~~(E)~~ (F) A testator's revocation of a will shall be valid only if the testator, at the time of the revocation, has the same capacity as the law requires for the execution of a will.

~~(F)~~ (G) As used in this section:

(1) "Trust with powers created by or available to the former spouse" means a trust that is revocable by the former spouse, with respect to which the former spouse has a power of withdrawal, or with respect to which the former spouse may take a distribution that is not subject to an ascertainable standard but does not mean a trust in which those powers of the former spouse are revoked by section 5815.31 of the Revised Code or similar provisions in the law of another state.

(2) "Ascertainable standard" means a standard that is related to a trust beneficiary's health, maintenance, support, or education.

Sec. 2107.60. (A) An oral will, made in the last sickness, shall be valid in respect to personal property if the oral will is reduced to writing or transcribed electronically and subscribed ~~by two competent disinterested witnesses~~ within ten days after the speaking of the testamentary words by two competent disinterested witnesses who were, at the time the testamentary words were spoken, in the physical presence or electronic presence of the testator. The witnesses who were, at the time the testamentary words were spoken, in the electronic presence of the testator shall be located within this state. The witnesses shall prove that the testator was of sound mind and memory, not under restraint, and that the testator called upon some person physically or electronically present at the time the testamentary words were spoken to bear testimony to the disposition as the testator's will.

(B) No oral will shall be admitted to record unless it is offered for probate within three months after the death of the testator.

Sec. 2107.63. A testator may by will devise, bequeath, or appoint real or personal property or any interest in real or personal property to a trustee of a trust that is evidenced by a written or electronic instrument signed by the testator or any other settlor either before or on the same date of the execution of the will of the testator, that is identified in the will, and that has been signed, or is signed at any time after the execution of the testator's will, by the trustee or trustees identified in the will or their successors or by any other person lawfully serving, by court appointment or otherwise, as a trustee.

The property or interest so devised, bequeathed, or appointed to the trustee shall become a part of the trust estate, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the court having jurisdiction of the trust, and shall be administered in accordance with the terms and provisions of the instrument creating the trust, including, unless the will specifically provides otherwise, any amendments or modifications of the trust made in writing or electronically before, concurrently with, or after the making of the will and prior to the death of the testator. The termination of the trust, or its entire revocation prior to the testator's death, shall invalidate the devise, bequest, or appointment to the trustee.

This section shall not affect any of the rights accorded to a surviving spouse under section 2106.01 of the Revised Code. This section applies, and shall be construed as applying, to the wills of decedents who die on or after the effective date of this amendment, regardless of the date of the execution of their wills.

Sec. 2129.05. Authenticated copies of wills of persons ~~not domiciled in this state,~~ executed and proved according to the laws of any state or territory of the United States, relative to property in this state, may be admitted to record in the probate court of a county where a part of that property is situated. The authenticated copies, so recorded, shall be as valid as wills made in this state.

When such a will, or authenticated copy, is admitted to record, a copy of the will or of the authenticated copy, with the copy of the order to record it annexed to that copy, certified by the probate judge under the seal of the probate court, may be filed and recorded in the office of the probate judge of any other county where a part of the property is situated, and it shall be as effectual as the authenticated copy of the will would be if approved and admitted to record by the court.

Sec. 2133.01. Unless the context otherwise requires, as used in sections 2133.01 to 2133.15 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older.

(B) "Attending physician" means the physician to whom a declarant or other patient, or the family of a declarant or other patient, has assigned primary responsibility for the treatment or care of the declarant or other patient, or, if the responsibility has not been assigned, the physician who has accepted that responsibility.

(1) Nutrition when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a declarant or other patient, but not to postpone the declarant's or other patient's death;

(2) Hydration when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a declarant or other patient, but not to postpone the declarant's or other patient's death;

(3) Any other medical or nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that is taken to diminish the pain or discomfort of a declarant or other patient, but not to postpone the declarant's or other patient's death.

(D) "Consulting physician" means a physician who, in conjunction with the attending physician of a declarant or other patient, makes one or more determinations that are required to be made by the attending physician, or to be made by the attending physician and one other physician, by an applicable provision of this chapter, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

(E) "Declarant" means any adult who has executed a declaration in accordance with section 2133.02 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Declaration" means a written or an electronic document executed in accordance with section 2133.02 of the Revised Code.

(G) "Durable power of attorney for health care" means a document created pursuant to sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code.

(H) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code to have the care and management of the person of an incompetent.

(I) "Health care facility" means any of the following:

(1) A hospital;

(2) A hospice care program, pediatric respite care program, or other institution that specializes in comfort care of patients in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state;

(3) A nursing home or residential care facility, as defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code;

(4) A home health agency and any residential facility where a person is receiving care under the direction of a home health agency;

(5) An intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

(K) "Home health agency" has the same meaning as in section 3740.01 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Hospice care program" and "pediatric respite care program" have the same meanings as in section 3712.01 of the Revised Code.

(M) "Hospital" has the same meanings as in sections 3701.01, 3727.01, and 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(N) "Hydration" means fluids that are artificially or technologically administered.

(O) "Incompetent" has the same meaning as in section 2111.01 of the Revised Code.

(P) "Intermediate care facility for the individuals with intellectual disabilities" has the same meaning as in section 5124.01 of the Revised Code.

(Q) "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that, when administered to a qualified patient or other patient, will serve principally to prolong the process of dying.

(R) "Nurse" means a person who is licensed to practice nursing as a registered nurse or to practice practical nursing as a licensed practical nurse pursuant to Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code.

(S) "Nursing home" has the same meaning as in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code.

(T) "Nutrition" means sustenance that is artificially or technologically administered.

(U) "Permanently unconscious state" means a state of permanent unconsciousness in a declarant or other patient that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by the declarant's or other patient's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the declarant or other patient, is characterized by both of the following:

(1) Irreversible unawareness of one's being and environment.

(2) Total loss of cerebral cortical functioning, resulting in the declarant or other patient having no capacity to experience pain or suffering.

(V) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and additionally includes political subdivisions and governmental agencies, boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and other instrumentalities.

(W) "Physician" means a person who is authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(X) "Political subdivision" and "state" have the same meanings as in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.

(Y) "Professional disciplinary action" means action taken by the board or other entity that regulates the professional conduct of health care personnel, including the state medical board and the board of nursing.

(Z) "Qualified patient" means an adult who has executed a declaration and has been determined to be in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state.

(AA) "Terminal condition" means an irreversible, incurable, and untreatable condition caused by disease, illness, or injury from which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by a declarant's or other patient's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the declarant or other patient, both of the following apply:

(1) There can be no recovery.

(2) Death is likely to occur within a relatively short time if life-sustaining treatment is not administered.

(BB) "Tort action" means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property, other than a civil action for damages for breach of a contract or another agreement between persons.

(CC) "Copy of a declaration" means a printed or electronic copy of a declaration in writing, a copy of the record of a declaration executed electronically that is readable as text, or an electronic copy of the record of a declaration executed electronically.

(DD) "Electronic," "electronically," "electronic presence," "record," "sign," and "vulnerable adult" have the same meanings as in section 2107.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2133.02. (A)(1) An adult who is of sound mind voluntarily may execute at any time a declaration governing the use or continuation, or the withholding or withdrawal, of life-sustaining treatment. ~~The~~ If the declaration is in writing, it shall be signed at the end by the declarant or by another individual at the direction of the declarant, and shall state the date of its execution~~, and either~~. If the declaration is executed electronically, the declarant or another individual at the direction of the declarant shall sign the record associated with, and at the end of, the declaration, and shall state the date of its execution. The declaration shall be witnessed as described in division (B)(1) of this section or be acknowledged by the declarant in accordance with division (B)(2) of this section. The declaration may include a designation by the declarant of one or more persons who are to be notified by the declarant's attending physician at any time that life-sustaining treatment would be withheld or withdrawn pursuant to the declaration. The declaration may include a specific authorization for the use or continuation or the withholding or withdrawal of CPR, but the failure to include a specific authorization for the withholding or withdrawal of CPR does not preclude the withholding or withdrawal of CPR in accordance with sections 2133.01 to 2133.15 or sections 2133.21 to 2133.26 of the Revised Code.

(2) Depending upon whether the declarant intends the declaration to apply when the declarant is in a terminal condition, in a permanently unconscious state, or in either a terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state, the declarant's declaration shall use either or both of the terms "terminal condition" and "permanently unconscious state" and shall define or otherwise explain those terms in a manner that is substantially consistent with the provisions of section 2133.01 of the Revised Code.

(3)(a) If a declarant who has authorized the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment intends that the declarant's attending physician withhold or withdraw nutrition or hydration when the declarant is in a permanently unconscious state and when the nutrition and hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to the declarant or alleviate the declarant's pain, then the declarant shall authorize the declarant's attending physician to withhold or withdraw nutrition or hydration when the declarant is in the permanently unconscious state by doing both of the following in the declaration:

(i) Including a statement in capital letters or other conspicuous type, including, but not limited to, a different font, bigger type, or boldface type, that the declarant's attending physician may withhold or withdraw nutrition and hydration if the declarant is in a permanently unconscious state and if the declarant's attending physician and at least one other physician who has examined the declarant determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to the declarant or alleviate the declarant's pain, or checking or otherwise marking a box or line that is adjacent to a similar statement on a printed form of a declaration;

(ii) Placing the declarant's initials or ~~signature~~ signing underneath or adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark described in division (A)(3)(a)(i) of this section.

(b) Division (A)(3)(a) of this section does not apply to the extent that a declaration authorizes the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment when a declarant is in a terminal condition. The provisions of division (E) of section 2133.12 of the Revised Code pertaining to comfort care shall apply to a declarant in a terminal condition.

(B)(1) If witnessed for purposes of division (A) of this section, a declaration shall be witnessed by two individuals as described in this division in whose physical presence, if the declaration is in writing, or physical or electronic presence, if the declaration is executed electronically, the declarant, or another individual at the direction of the declarant, signed the declaration. The witnesses to a declaration that is executed electronically in the electronic presence of the declarant or another individual at the direction of the declarant shall be located within this state. The witnesses to a declaration that is executed electronically by a declarant who is a vulnerable adult or by another individual at the direction of a declarant who is a vulnerable adult shall sign the declaration in the physical presence of the declarant. The witnesses to a declaration shall be adults who are not related to the declarant by blood, marriage, or adoption, who are not the attending physician of the declarant, and who are not the administrator of any nursing home in which the declarant is receiving care. Each witness shall subscribe the witness' signature after the signature of the declarant or other individual at the direction of the declarant and, by doing so, attest to the witness' belief that the declarant appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence. The signatures of the declarant or other individual at the direction of the declarant under division (A) of this section and of the witnesses under this division are not required to appear on the same page of the declaration.

(2)(a) If acknowledged for purposes of division (A) of this section, a declaration shall be acknowledged before a notary public, who shall make the certification described in section 147.53 of the Revised Code and also shall attest that the declarant appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence.

(b) If a declaration is executed electronically, a notary public performing the certification and attestation described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section shall do so through an electronic notarization, pursuant to section 147.591 of the Revised Code, or as an online notarization pursuant to sections 147.60 to 147.66 of the Revised Code.

(C) An attending physician, or other health care personnel acting under the direction of an attending physician, who is furnished a copy of a declaration shall make it a part of the declarant's medical record and, when section 2133.05 of the Revised Code is applicable, also shall comply with that section.

(D)(1) Subject to division (D)(2) of this section, an attending physician of a declarant or a health care facility in which a declarant is confined may refuse to comply or allow compliance with the declarant's declaration on the basis of a matter of conscience or on another basis. An employee or agent of an attending physician of a declarant or of a health care facility in which a declarant is confined may refuse to comply with the declarant's declaration on the basis of a matter of conscience.

(2) If an attending physician of a declarant or a health care facility in which a declarant is confined is not willing or not able to comply or allow compliance with the declarant's declaration, the physician or facility promptly shall so advise the declarant and comply with the provisions of section 2133.10 of the Revised Code, or, if the declaration has become operative as described in division (A) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code, shall comply with the provisions of section 2133.10 of the Revised Code.

(E) As used in this section, "CPR" has the same meaning as in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5302.22. (A) As Unless the context otherwise requires, as used in sections 5302.22, 5302.222, 5302.23, and 5302.24 of the Revised Code:

(1) "Affidavit of confirmation" means an affidavit executed under division (A) of section 5302.222 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Survivorship tenancy" means an ownership of real property or any interest in real property by two or more persons that is created by executing a deed pursuant to section 5302.17 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Survivorship tenant" means one of the owners of real property or any interest in real property in a survivorship tenancy.

(4) "Tenants by the entireties" mean only those persons who are vested as tenants in an estate by the entireties with survivorship pursuant to any deed recorded between February 9, 1972, and April 3, 1985, under section 5302.17 of the Revised Code as it existed during that period of time. Nothing in sections 5302.22, 5302.222, 5302.23, and 5302.24 of the Revised Code authorizes the creation of a tenancy by the entireties or recognizes a tenancy by the entireties created outside that period of time.

(5) "Transfer on death designation affidavit" means an affidavit executed under this section.

(6) "Transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries" means the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in a transfer on death designation affidavit.

(7) "Electronic" and "record" have the same meanings as in section 2107.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) Any individual who, under the Revised Code or the common law of this state, owns real property or any interest in real property as a sole owner, as a tenant in common, or as a survivorship tenant, or together with the individual's spouse owns an indivisible interest in real property as tenants by the entireties, may designate the entire interest, or any specified part that is less than the entire interest, in that real property as transferable on death to a designated beneficiary or beneficiaries by executing, together with the individual's spouse, if any, a transfer on death designation affidavit as provided in this section.

A transfer on death designation affidavit may be executed in writing or in an electronic manner. If executed in an electronic manner, a certified copy or a copy of the affidavit that is readable as text shall be considered to be a certified copy or a copy of the record of the affidavit. A copy of that affidavit shall be offered for recording with the county recorder as provided in this section.

If the affidavit is executed by an individual together with the individual's spouse, if any, the dower rights of the spouse are subordinate to the vesting of title to the interest in the real property in the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated under this section. The affidavit shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county in which the real property is located, and, when so recorded, the affidavit or a certified copy of the affidavit shall be evidence of the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries so designated in the affidavit insofar as the affidavit affects title to the real property.

(C)(1) If an individual who owns real property or an interest in real property as a sole owner or as a tenant in common executes a transfer on death designation affidavit, upon the death of that individual, title to the real property or interest in the real property specified in the affidavit vests in the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the affidavit.

(2) If an individual who owns real property or an interest in real property as a survivorship tenant executes a transfer on death designation affidavit, upon the death of that individual or of one but not all of the surviving survivorship tenants, title to the real property or interest in the real property specified in the affidavit vests in the surviving survivorship tenant or tenants. Upon the death of the last surviving survivorship tenant, title to the real property or interest in the real property vests in the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the affidavit, subject to division (B)(7) of section 5302.23 of the Revised Code.

(3) If an individual who together with the individual's spouse owns an indivisible interest in real property as tenants by the entireties executes a transfer on death designation affidavit, upon the death of that individual, title to the real property or interest in the real property vests in the remaining tenant by the entireties. Upon the death of the remaining tenant by the entireties, title to the real property or interest in the real property vests in the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the affidavit, subject to division (B)(7) of section 5302.23 of the Revised Code.

(D) A transfer on death designation affidavit shall be verified before any person authorized to administer oaths and shall include all of the following:

(1) A description of the real property the title to which is affected by the affidavit and a reference to an instrument of record containing that description;

(2) If less than the entire interest in the real property is to be transferred on death under the affidavit, a statement of the specific interest or part of the interest in the real property that is to be so transferred;

(3) A statement by the individual executing the affidavit that the individual is the person appearing on the record of the real property as the owner of the real property or interest in the real property at the time of the recording of the affidavit and the marital status of that owner. If the owner is married, the affidavit shall include a statement by the owner's spouse stating that the spouse's dower rights are subordinate to the vesting of title to the real property or interest in the real property in the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the affidavit.

(4) A statement designating one or more persons, identified by name, as transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries.

(E) The county recorder of the county in which a transfer on death designation affidavit is offered for recording shall receive the affidavit and cause it to be recorded in the same manner as deeds are recorded. The county recorder shall collect a fee for recording the affidavit in the same amount as the fee for recording deeds. The county recorder shall index the affidavit in the name of the owner of record of the real property or interest in the real property who executed the affidavit.

(F) A transfer on death designation affidavit need not be supported by consideration and need not be delivered to the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries designated in the affidavit to be effective. However, in order to be effective, that affidavit shall be recorded with the county recorder as described in this section prior to the death of the individual who executed the affidavit.

(G) Subject to division (C) of this section, upon the death of any individual who owns real property or an interest in real property that is subject to a transfer on death beneficiary designation made under a transfer on death designation affidavit as provided in this section, that real property or interest in real property of the deceased owner shall be transferred only to the transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries who are identified in the affidavit by name and who survive the deceased owner or that are in existence on the date of death of the deceased owner.

For purposes of this division, if a natural or legal person designated by name in the affidavit as a transfer on death beneficiary or as a contingent transfer on death beneficiary as provided in division (B)(2) of section 5302.23 of the Revised Code solely in that person's capacity as a trustee of a trust has died, has resigned, or otherwise has been replaced by a successor trustee of the trust on the date of death of the deceased owner, the successor trustee of the trust shall be considered the transfer on death beneficiary or contingent transfer on death beneficiary in existence on the date of death of the deceased owner in full compliance with this division, notwithstanding that the successor trustee is not named as a transfer on death beneficiary or contingent transfer on death beneficiary in the affidavit.

(H) Any person who knowingly makes any false statement in a transfer on death designation affidavit is guilty of falsification under division (A)(6) of section 2921.13 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5817.01. As used in this chapter:

(A)(1) "Beneficiary under a trust" means either of the following:

(a) Any person that has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, whether vested or contingent;

(b) Any person that, in a capacity other than that of trustee, holds a power of appointment over trust property, but does not include the class of permitted appointees among whom the power holder may appoint.

(2) "Beneficiary under a trust" includes a charitable organization that is expressly designated in the terms of the trust to receive distributions, but does not include any charitable organization that is not expressly designated in the terms of the trust to receive distributions, but to whom the trustee may in its discretion make distributions.

(B)(1) "Beneficiary under a will" means either of the following:

(a) Any person designated in a will to receive a testamentary disposition of real or personal property;

(b) Any person that, in a capacity other than that of executor, holds a power of appointment over estate assets, but does not include the class of permitted appointees among whom the power holder may appoint.

(2) "Beneficiary under a will" includes a charitable organization that is expressly designated in the terms of the will to receive testamentary distributions, but does not include any charitable organization that is not expressly designated in the terms of the will to receive distributions, but to whom the executor may in its discretion make distributions.

(C) "Court" means the probate court of the county in which the complaint under section 5817.02 or 5817.03 of the Revised Code is filed or the general division of the court of common pleas to which the probate court transfers the proceeding under division (A) of section 5817.04 of the Revised Code.

(D) "Related trust" means a trust for which both of the following apply:

(1) The testator is the settlor of the trust.

(2) The trust is named as a beneficiary in the will in accordance with section 2107.63 of the Revised Code.

(E) "Related will" means a will for which both of the following apply:

(1) The testator is the settlor of a trust.

(2) The will names the trust as a beneficiary in accordance with section 2107.63 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Trust" means an inter vivos revocable or irrevocable trust instrument to which, at the time the complaint for declaration of validity is filed under section 5817.03 of the Revised Code, either of the following applies:

(1) The settlor resides in, or is domiciled in, this state.

(2) The trust's principal place of administration is in this state.

(G) "Will" includes an electronic will.

(H) "Copy of an electronic will," "electronic presence," "electronic will," and "sign" have the same meanings as in section 2107.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5817.05. (A) A complaint under section 5817.02 of the Revised Code shall name as party defendants all of the following, as applicable:

(1) The testator's spouse;

(2) The testator's children;

(3) The testator's heirs who would take property pursuant to section 2105.06 of the Revised Code had the testator died intestate at the time the complaint is filed;

(4) The testator's beneficiaries under the will;

(5) Any beneficiary under the testator's most recent prior will.

(B) A complaint under section 5817.02 of the Revised Code may name as a party defendant any other person that the testator believes may have a pecuniary interest in the determination of the validity of the testator's will.

(1) A statement that a copy of the written or electronic will has been filed with the court;

(2) A statement that the will is in writing or is an electronic will;

(3) A statement that the will, if in writing, was signed by the testator, or was signed in the testator's name by another person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's express direction; or a statement that the will, if an electronic will, was signed at the end by the testator or by another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's physical presence or electronic presence, and at the testator's express direction;

(4) A statement that the will, if in writing, was signed in the conscious presence of the testator by two or more competent individuals, each of whom either witnessed the testator sign the will, or heard the testator acknowledge signing the will; or a statement that the will, if an electronic will, was signed in the physical presence or electronic presence of the testator by two or more competent individuals and that all of the applicable requirements specified in divisions (C)(3)(a), (b), (c), and (d) of section 2107.03 of the Revised Code were complied with;

(5) A statement that the will was executed with the testator's testamentary intent;

(6) A statement that the testator had testamentary capacity;

(7) A statement that the testator executed the will free from undue influence, not under restraint or duress, and in the exercise of the testator's free will;

(8) A statement that the execution of the will was not the result of fraud or mistake;

(9) The names and addresses of the testator and all of the defendants and, if any of the defendants are minors, their ages;

(10) A statement that the will has not been revoked or modified;

(11) A statement that the testator is familiar with the contents of the will.

Section 2. That existing sections 317.32, 1337.11, 1337.12, 1337.22, 1337.25, 2107.01, 2107.03, 2107.07, 2107.17, 2107.18, 2107.24, 2107.27, 2107.29, 2107.30, 2107.31, 2107.33, 2107.60, 2107.63, 2129.05, 2133.01, 2133.02, 5302.22, 5817.01, and 5817.05 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. The General Assembly respectfully requests that the Supreme Court amend its rules and procedures to further implement the purposes of this act in relation to electronically executed wills, declarations or living wills, and powers of attorney.