Speak With Dead reads:
If the dead creature's alignment was different from yours, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive
If cast from a scroll, does this use the scroll creator's alignment, or the alignment of the person activating the scroll?
If it does use the alignment of the person activating the scroll, you can make a UMD check to emulate a different alignment, correct? So you can circumvent the saving throw by knowing the dead creature's alignment and making a DC 30 UMD check?
My interpretation reads that the person using the scroll, not the original crafter of the scroll, is whose alignment matters.
I agree that you can emulate another alignment with a UMD check.
I'm not 100% sure though, it does seem like a corner case.
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I always understood that UMD only emulates the alignment for the purpose of fulfilling requirements, but I should further look into it
Here's the text from UMD:
Emulate an Alignment: Some magic items have positive or negative effects based on the user's alignment. Use Magic Device lets you use these items as if you were of an alignment of your choice. You can emulate only one alignment at a time.
So the question comes down to whether a scroll of Speak With Dead is one of "these items", i.e., one that has "positive or negative effects based on the user's alignment."
I think there's a reasonable argument that the ability to cast a spell without a save is a "positive effect".
Personally, I'd say that you couldn't use UMD for this purpose. There aren't any bonuses or penalties due to alignment that are inherent to the item. It doesn't have some penalty because you're a certain alignment; it is not comparable to something like an un/holy weapon, robe of the archmagi, or various other items.