Videotaping of Will and Trust Executions
| Publication year | 1984 |
| Pages | 1188 |
1984, July, Pg. 1188. Videotaping of Will and Trust Executions
As relatively inexpensive portable videotaping equipment becomes increasingly available, it is being used by litigating attorneys for depositions and preservation of testimony. Questions arise as to whether estate planning lawyers should follow their colleagues' example and use videotaping equipment to record will or trust executions and, if so, under what circumstances.(fn1)
This article summarizes the law with respect to the use of videotapes as evidence in civil proceedings; reports the results of an informal survey of current practices of Denver metropolitan estate planners with respect to videotaping of will and trust executions; and suggests various issues that should be considered by estate planning attorneys in assessing whether, to what extent and how they will engage in this practice.
With respect to the general admissibility of videotapes in civil proceedings as evidence of the statements and activities recorded, the law appears to be the same as that with respect to the use of ordinary motion pictures for this purpose:
1) The statements and activities must be relevant to a matter at issue in the proceeding;
2) It must be shown that the videotaping equipment was functioning properly when the statements and activities were recorded and that the operator of the equipment was trained and experienced in its use;
3) A person present when the videotape was made must identify the persons videotaped and must testify that the videotape accurately represents the statements and activities witnessed by him; and
4) It must be shown that the videotape has been properly preserved and that no changes, additions or deletions have been made to it or, if they have been made, they must be explained.(fn2)
Explicit authority exists for the admissibility of "wire recordings" of a donor's statements of donative intent(fn3) and of a testator's statements made when he signed his will,(fn4) although no direct authority appears to exist for the use of motion pictures or videotapes for similar purposes.
Seven estate planning attorneys were chosen from the roster of the Denver Estate Planning Council for an...
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