Is an electronic signature enough to make a will?

No. Polish law recognises only the forms of will set out in the Civil Code, and none of them is electronic. A qualified signature replaces a handwritten signature, but a holographic will requires the entire text to be written by hand. A file with a qualified, trusted or personal signature is therefore not a valid will.

Why a qualified signature is not enough

Under art. 78¹ of the Civil Code, a statement made in electronic form with a qualified electronic signature is equivalent to written form. A holographic will, however, requires more than written form: art. 949 says the entire text must be written by hand and signed. A qualified signature replaces only the signature itself; it cannot replace handwriting. A will made without the required form is invalid (art. 958).

Trusted Profile and e-ID do not work either

The trusted signature (podpis zaufany, from the Trusted Profile) and the personal signature (podpis osobisty) from the Polish e-ID card are meant mainly for dealings with public administration, and they are even less suited to a will than a qualified signature. An email, a video recording or a file in the cloud is not a form of will either, however precisely it describes the testator’s wishes.

What you can do electronically

You can draft the text of a will on a computer and then copy it out in full by hand. You can also prepare a list of accounts, documents and instructions for your family electronically. Such a digital plan complements a will, but it does not replace one.

The forms that work

A holographic will is written entirely by hand, signed and dated. A notarial will is drawn up by a notary in your presence. The fee for an ordinary will is at most 50 złoty net, plus VAT and wypisy (certified copies). An allographic will is an oral statement made in front of two witnesses before, among others, a wójt, a mayor or the head of a civil registry office (urząd stanu cywilnego), and recorded in a protocol.