How to Create an Estate Plan During COVID-19 | Santa Clara Estate Planning Lawyer

Creating an estate plan in 2019 looked a little bit like this: you and your spouse or partner, perhaps along with your adult children, would make an appointment at the office of a Santa Clara estate planning lawyer to go over your plans. A little later, you’d receive a summary of your documents in the mail or via email to review to make sure everything is correct. A week or so after that, you’d return to the office and sign all of your documents in a room with the paralegal or lawyer, including at least two witnesses, and a notary public.

Obviously, this is not the case in 2020 and the era of the coronavirus.

The demand for comprehensive estate plans is greater than in previous years, as many people are confronting their mortality in the face of this global pandemic. Unfortunately, the landscape has changed as far as how people in the community can interact with their lawyer and get their estate plan completed.

In-person appointments have mostly been replaced with phone conferences and Zoom meetings, which may actually make it a lot easier for adult children who live all over the country to attend the appointment with their parents. And while it might be a little harder to get ahold of those important financial documents needed for estate planning, many documents are now available online and can be emailed to your estate planning attorney to move the process along.

But what about when it comes time to sign your documents?

Many states have relaxed the rules around witnesses and notarizations to comply with social distancing and shelter-in-place orders. Some states now allow remote witnessing of the Last Will and Testament, Living Will, and Power of Attorney documents, as well as real property deeds. Other states, including Florida, Virginia, and Texas allow for the notary and signer to be in different locations and use video conferencing to electronically sign legal documents.

Here in California, the signing and notarizing rules have not changed.  To keep our clients as safe as possible, we’ve instituted “drive-through” signings, where you remain in your car and we walk you through executing your documents with a minimum of contact.

If you have any questions about setting up an estate plan right now, or if you’d like to have your existing estate plan reviewed in order to make sure it is set up properly for your situation, please contact our law firm at (650) 422-3313 to schedule a consultation with a Santa Clara estate planning lawyer.