The SECURE Act (“Act”) passed the House on May 23, 2019, with overwhelming bipartisan support (417-3), and the same was expected to occur in the Senate. Following Congress’ August recess, however, the bill remains stalled in the Senate, with some sources questioning whether it will ever become law. This update will provide a brief overview of key provisions of H.R. 1994 – the version of the Act approved by the House and received by the Senate on June 3, 2019 – and will discuss the provisions said to be causing the holdup in the Senate.

Once upon a time, the legal field relied on face-to-face interactions, loads of paper files, and gallons and gallons of ink. This is not so in the current day and age. Our legal documents were once handwritten, then typed and printed, and are now becoming a series of ones and zeros. Most attorneys now harbor a hybrid mix of paper and electronically stored data. For elder law attorneys, shifting their historically physical procedures into electronic practices is a foreign concept – a concept now coming to fruition in the form of electronic wills.

What are Uniform Acts?

Our nation is made up of sovereign states – meaning that each state governs itself separately from its neighbors. Although Federal law looms over the union generally, each state has leeway to vary its specific laws to reflect the needs and values of its population. The separation between states and the federal government also allow for discrepancies – and sometimes competing positions – on hot topics like medical marijuana or gun rights.

Fiduciaries can hold a lot of power when it comes to the successful execution of one’s estate plan—they make crucial financial decisions, act as advocates for a client’s wishes,  make sure an estate’s debts are settled, and ensure that each beneficiary gets what they were intended to receive. As such, helping clients choose the right individual to carry out these duties can be the difference between successfully carrying out a client’s wishes and complete calamity.