How the decoder reasons

Inputs

1. State of execution (where the will was signed)
2. Year of execution (used for UEWA-effective-date comparison and COVID-rule expiry)
3. Will format (typed + witnessed / holographic / electronic-under-UEWA / remote-witnessed-COVID)
4. Witness count
5. Notarization status (on the self-proving affidavit)
6. Self-proving affidavit attached (yes / no / unsure)
7. State of domicile at death (where probate will be filed)

Conditional logic

The engine evaluates two cases:

1. Intra-state. When state-of-execution = state-of-domicile, the engine evaluates only the execution-state's will-execution statute for the relevant format.
2. Cross-state. When state-of-execution ≠ state-of-domicile, the engine evaluates BOTH:
   • Did the will satisfy the execution-state's validity threshold (witness count + format + UEWA framework if e-will)?
   • Does the domicile-state's choice-of-law rule (UPC §2-506 pattern) honor a will validly executed elsewhere, given the format?

The output is one of three verdicts:

• VALID — both conditions cleared.
• LIKELY INVALID — at least one condition unmistakably failed.
• UNCERTAIN — at least one condition is unsettled (rare patterns: out-of-state holographic into non-recognizing state, out-of-state e-will into non-adopting state, COVID-era remote-witnessing in a state where the emergency rule lapsed).

State-rule manifest schema

The decoder reads a 9-axis × 50 + DC matrix (459 cells). Each cell carries:

• value — the rule value for that axis (e.g., witness_count = 2; holographic_accepted = "yes_unconditional")
• _source_url — the primary-source URL (state legislature, Cornell LII, or ULC tracker), or a PLACEHOLDER token
• statute_citation — the canonical citation (e.g., "Cal. Probate Code §6110")
• last_verified — ISO date of last verification
• notes — plain-English explanation
• verification_status — "AUTHORED_FROM_CANONICAL_KNOWLEDGE" or "PRIMARY_SOURCE_VERIFIED"

5-fixture verbatim-reproduction harness

Five hand-traced fixtures cover representative cases. The decoder reproduces each fixture's verdict verbatim — Audit 5.1 fails the build on any mismatch. The fixtures are:

1. FIX-01 — Typed+witnessed CA 2018 with 2 witnesses + self-proving affidavit; domicile CA at death → VALID
2. FIX-02 — Holographic CA 2018 (no witnesses); domicile FL at death → VALID
3. FIX-03 — E-will FL 2024 under Fla. Stat. §732.522; domicile NV at death → VALID
4. FIX-04 — Typed+witnessed TX 2015 with 2 witnesses; domicile NY at death → VALID
5. FIX-05 — E-will NY 2024 under remote-witnessing rule; NY emergency rule expired; domicile NY at death → UNCERTAIN

Verification posture

The current build is a v1 dev preview. Per Pattern I, every cell carries a _source_url field; per Gate 0.8 SOFT GATE for v1 dev preview, PLACEHOLDER tokens are allowed. Production ship requires:

• WebFetch-based re-fetch of every Cornell LII / ULC / state-legislature URL
• SHA256 lock on the canonical statute text
• Resolution of every PLACEHOLDER token
• Estate-planning attorney reviewer sign-off (Gate 0.5 HARD-for-prod)
• Annual review cron + quarterly UEWA-adoption refresh (UEWA is fresh law)

Privacy

Decoder inputs are sensitive (a reader's specific fact pattern about their own will). The engine is entirely client-side — nothing is POSTed to a server. Aggregate analytics (GA4) capture only state-of-execution / state-of-domicile / pre-or-post-UEWA-year-bucket / format-bucket — never specific year + state combinations that could re-identify a transaction. See how the decoder works and privacy.

UPC anchors

The engine's choice-of-law step follows the UPC §2-506 pattern; the execution step follows UPC §2-502; harmless-error consideration tracks UPC §2-503 where adopted.

Primary sourceUPC §2-502 Primary sourceUPC §2-503 Primary sourceUPC §2-506