---
type: "Bill"
title: "ELECTRONIC WILLS-SCOPE"
description: "Amends the Electronic Nontestamentary Estate Planning Documents Article of the Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act. Provides that the Article does not apply to a nontestamentary estate planning document, will, or terms of a trust if the terms governing the document expressly preclude use of an electronic record or electronic signature (rather than does not apply to a nontestamentary estate planning document, will, or terms of a trust governing the document expressly preclude use of an electronic record or electronic signature)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "103rd"
identifier: "HB 4251"
citation: "Illinois HB 4251 (103rd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Laura Ellman", "Margaret Croke"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-12-04"
last_action: "2024-07-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4e84abec-3298-471a-902e-31132237650d"
source_url: "https://beta.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=4251&GAID=17&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=151057&SessionID=112"
source_hash: "23b49ab7723ce4c7143896eaeed6239c1cd32196d92062cdf6e1519d9403173c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 4251 (103rd) — ELECTRONIC WILLS-SCOPE

Amends the Electronic Nontestamentary Estate Planning Documents Article of the Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act. Provides that the Article does not apply to a nontestamentary estate planning document, will, or terms of a trust if the terms governing the document expressly preclude use of an electronic record or electronic signature (rather than does not apply to a nontestamentary estate planning document, will, or terms of a trust governing the document expressly preclude use of an electronic record or electronic signature).

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/HB/PDF/10300HB4251.pdf)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/HB/PDF/10300HB4251eng.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/HB/PDF/10300HB4251enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **57–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **108–0** (pass) · lower
- Judiciary — **9–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Laura Ellman — primary (person)
- Margaret Croke — primary (person)
- Jenn Ladisch Douglass — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-12-04** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Margaret Croke `filing`
- **2024-01-16** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2024-01-16** Referred to Rules Committee
- **2024-01-31** Assigned to Judiciary - Civil Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-07** Do Pass / Short Debate Judiciary - Civil Committee; 012-000-000
- **2024-02-07** Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass
- **2024-02-08** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2024-04-10** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2024-04-10** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2024-04-17** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 108-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-04-18** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2024-04-18** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading April 30, 2024 `reading-1`
- **2024-04-19** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Laura Ellman
- **2024-04-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2024-04-19** Referred to Assignments
- **2024-04-24** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-01** Do Pass Judiciary; 009-000-000
- **2024-05-01** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 2, 2024 `reading-2`
- **2024-05-02** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2024-05-02** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 7, 2024
- **2024-05-15** Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-05-15** Passed Both Houses
- **2024-06-13** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-07-19** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-19** Effective Date January 1, 2025
- **2024-07-19** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0666 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4e84abec-3298-471a-902e-31132237650d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).