Collecting customer feedback is so important. MW Estate Planning is very proud to have achieved a 100% rating from their customers in April. MW Estate Planning use a 3rd party company, Working Feedback, to collect these reviews via email, text and online.
Collecting customer feedback is so important. MW Estate Planning is very proud to have achieved a 100% rating from their customers in April. MW Estate Planning use a 3rd party company, Working Feedback, to collect these reviews via email, text and online.
Unfortunately, Will writing or estate planning is not a regulated profession. It was going to be regulated a few years ago but at the last minute the process was cancelled. Therefore, there are some important things to look for when using a Will writer for your Will or Power of Attorney.
If you need help or advice looking for a Will writer, please get in contact or you can search for a member of the Society of Will Writer on their website.
Normally when we think of powers of attorney we think of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs). These documents allow a donor to appoint attorneys to make decisions on their behalf should they lose capacity to make their own decisions. They can be made to appoint someone to make decisions about health and welfare as well as property and financial affairs.
General Powers of Attorney (GPAs) are very different. This type of document can only be used by a donor wishing to appoint an attorney to manage their financial affairs and is only valid while the donor has mental capacity. As soon as capacity is lost the GPA is no longer useable and the attorney can’t make any more decisions for the donor.
For a person who needs someone to make decisions for them right away a GPA can be a great alternative currently. There is no registration requirement, so the document is ready to use as soon as it has been properly signed. There are also less people involved in the creation of a GPA. The only people who need to sign are the donor themselves and a witness.
MW Estate Planning has been certified as comply with the Society of Will Writer’s Code of Practice.
If you have a Will or Codicil (amendment to an existing Will) that need to be witnessed, called Attestation, then isn’t straight forward during these troubled times.
Under the requirements of section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 the person making the Will, Testator, must sign or acknowledge their signature in the presence of at least two witnesses, together at the same time. The witnesses must be 18+ of sound mind and can’t be a beneficiary of the Will or married to a beneficiary of the Will. Therefore, immediate family members are unlikely to be able to witness the Will. Without the Will being witnessed and dated correctly it is not a legal document.
The answer is carefully!
There is a precedent in a very old case law, Casson v Dade (1781). In this case it was established that a Will was valid where the witnessing had taken place through a window, so while the testator and their witnesses were not actually in the same room, they did see them sign the Will. How does this work?
The “Window Method”:
This could be difficult to arrange as you will need to arrange two independent witnesses, friends or neighbours are fine, to witness you signing through a window or patio door. It is understandable that people might be reluctant to do this during social distancing rules.
The COVID19 crisis has highlighted the antiquated rules surrounding signing of Wills and other legal documents and there is talk of changes to the law to allow video witnessing or possibly online options. However, it is vital that the correct safeguards are still in place to protect frauds, it is unlikely any changes will happen for quite a while yet.
In the meantime, the only way is to either wait until the crisis is over or use the “Window Method”.
If you want any help or advice about Wills or Powers of Attorney, then please get in touch for a free consultation.
