With the world in disarray due to COVID-19, you may feel more pressure than ever to ensure your estate planning documents and powers of attorney are updated and in place. In times of uncertainty, it is the small things that help bring us piece of mind.
Our attorneys are working diligently to ensure our clients are taken care of when it comes to their estate planning documents. We are taking extra precautions to help our clients sign their documents while protecting their safety.
Signing Options
When it comes to signing your will or a codicil to your will, you need a notary and two witnesses. When signing your powers of attorney documents, a transfer on death deed, or your trust documents, you only need a notary.
To sign your documents, you can come into the lobby of our building and we will ensure you can finalize your estate planning documents while maintaining acceptable social distance. Here’s how it works:
Building Lobby
Due to the social distancing requirements, we are not currently having signings in our office to protect our staff and clients, as it does not allow for enough distance between participants. However, if you are comfortable coming in to the lobby of the building, we will have enough space for you to sign your documents while your attorney and two witnesses from our office watch you sign from a safe social distance.
Once you sign, we will take your documents back up to our office and complete the necessary witness signatures and notarization of the documents.
The chairs and side tables in the building lobby are sanitized each night by the cleaning crew. However, we are also wiping down the chairs and tables used after each signing with either bleached based or alcohol based cleaner to maintain proper sanitization between signing appointments, as well as any pens used.
Original Documents
After the proper signatures have been finalized and the documents have been notarized, our office will mail back your original documents along with any requested notebooks or USB cards requested.
We suggest keeping your original documents in a safe place where your personal representative or agent for your powers of attorney know where and how to access the documents.
We are concerned about safety just as much as you are, which is why we are taking these safeguards to protect you as well as our staff and attorneys. Please do not put off signing your will, trust, or powers of attorney out of concern of contracting COVID-19. Let us help you finalize your estate planning documents safely and quickly.