Please please please, get your affairs in order.

The world of Covid has been a very strange place for us Wills & Probate Solicitors. https://www.emmersons-solicitors.co.uk/wills.php One of our immediate issues was how to have wills signed and witnessed. 

You may not know this, but for a will to be valid you need the testator, the person who is making the will, and two witnesses. They must all be present at the time the will is signed. However, a beneficiary, a person to whom you are leaving all or part of your estate, cannot be a witness and must not be present when you sign your will. 

Suddenly many of our clients could not leave the house. Usually we have only a handful of clients at any one time who can’t leave the house because they are housebound. But now we could not meet any of our clients.

So what to do?

We now have a system whereby a client is sent a detailed questionnaire and then given a telephone appointment. The will is drafted and a further appointment is made for a Drive Through Will Signing. It takes about five minutes and then you can be on your way. We are lucky that you are able to pull up in the car outside either of our offices. If you are a couple then one of you stays in the car whilst the other signs their will. 

This has proved invaluable to;

Medics working long hours who couldn’t find time for a traditional appointment

Couples and people living alone who couldn’t find witnesses. 

On occasion we have also sent two staff out, in separate cars, to carry out will signing/witnessing in clients’ gardens.

Who Will be Your Executor?

Which brings me to the issue of probate. I am frequently appointed as an executor. Many couples come in to see me in good health and think its a good idea to appoint each other as executor. But what happens when your spouse has predeceased you? Who will manage your estate? Or did you choose a friend or cousin to be your executor? I would not thank any friend who did that to me. You have just lumbered them with a huge task. 

Do you realise that there is a lot of work and expense involved to sort out an estate. Money has to be found immediately for death certificates, probate fees, cleaning teams, funeral directors. 

Imagine your relative or friend dealing with some of these issues; 

Going into your home and looking through mountains of paperwork, searching every cupboard and drawer. In one case recently it took four of our staff three hours each to gather paperwork the day we obtained keys to out client’s property, we were searching for a pre-paid funeral policy, house insurance, as we now had an empty property on our hands, and cash and valuables. We had to throw out a lifetime’s worth of bills, invitations etc. all the time looking out for that tiny slip of paper that could indicate savings into an old life assurance policy. 12 hours of work on the first day alone!

There was no pre-paid funeral plan so I appointed a funeral director. I cannot organise a funeral until I know whether or not there is such a plan. You do not want the estate to pay for a funeral a second time. That’s why we have to work at top speed. Now imagine your friend dealing with all of that. 

So, my message to you is this. Please organise your affairs. At Emmersons Solicitors we store our clients’ wills free of charge, and we send them a copy to keep at home. That way the original does not go missing and cannot be tampered with. If you have a pre-paid funeral plan they that should be stored with your copy will at home. We can also store these with your original will but you must keep a copy at home as well. And finally please make sure that I could find details of your house insurance very quickly. It is essential that I can make sure your house is now insured as an empty property. 

I have outlined what can happen if your affairs are not in order. A huge amount of work must be carried out on an emergency basis. Why not have a card pinned to the wall. Setting out solicitors details, the fact that there is a pre-paid funeral plan and details as to house insurance, company and policy number. 

If that were the case then a funeral could be organised immediately. In the case above this was not possible; for various reasons we could not gain access to the house for quite some time. 

Your family and friends may visit regularly but how are they to know where to look for documents. Do you want them to be looking through every draw and cupboard. What I do is highly personal, I have to check through everything that belonged to you. I have found gold sovereigns in the back of draws, jewellery hidden in blankets etc. it all has to be searched for. 

If you would like to organise your affairs and make life so much easier for your family and friends then I can be contacted at [email protected] or 0191 2846989.