Current guidance for making a Will and Lasting Power of Attorney

The outbreak of the Coronavirus and the risk it poses to our health has led many of our clients to contact us to review their existing Will or put a new Will in place. This is an understandable response in a time of considerable uncertainty and anxiety for some. ​

We want to assure our clients that despite the current disruption brought about by the Coronavirus our Will writing services have not been compromised.

As a means of ensuring the continuation of our Will writing services whilst also protecting the health of our staff and clients, we have introduced the following procedure:

• All initial Will consultations are now carried out over the telephone, FaceTime or Skype except in the most exceptional circumstances.
• Following your consultation we will send your draft Will and accompanying correspondence by e-mail. If you do not have access to e-mail we will send your documents by post.
• Once you have received your draft Will we will deal with any questions or alterations by telephone, FaceTime or Skype.
• Once you have approved your draft Will we will prepare the final version for signing. At that stage we will ask you to attend our office for a short meeting to get your Will signed. We are unable to dispense with the requirement to meet with clients at all during the Will writing process. This is because we need to verify your identification and ensure that you have fully understood the content of your Will. We are responsibly seeking to minimise client contact by limiting the duration of your signing meeting. This is achieved by ensuring that all questions about your Will are dealt with in advance of meeting with you.

We have also seen a significant increase in enquiries from clients about Lasting Powers of Attorney. These enquiries relate to decisions about the management of Property and Finances, and Health and Welfare. Clients are understandably concerned about who would be able to legally make these decisions in the event they become physically or mentally incapacitated.

The process for preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney is the same as described above in relation to making a Will. 

More information

To arrange a free telephone consultation please fill in the contact form on this page or email us at mail@pinneytalfourd.co.uk or contact us on 01708 229444 (Upminster Office) or 01277 211755 (Brentwood Office).

This article was written by Matthew Edwards, Partner in the Private Client Team at Pinney Talfourd LLP Solicitors. The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. Specific legal advice should be taken on each individual matter. This article is based on the law as of March 2020.